Maryland women’s lacrosse vs. Drexel NCAA tournament first round preview

Maryland women’s lacrosse didn’t earn a seed in the NCAA tournament for just the second time under coach Cathy Reese. But it made the dance, and its effort to prove the committee made a mistake begins Friday with a rematch against Drexel in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The Terps ran away with a 15-9 victory over the Dragons in the former’s third game of the season. They went up 7-1 in the first quarter and were able to coast their way to victory on the back of a combined 10 goals from senior attackers Libby May and Hannah Leubecker.

But, as Reese pointed out, that game happened on Feb. 21 — over two-and-a-half months ago. Both teams were still coming into their own, and each has played plenty of lacrosse since.

“We’re a totally different team since then, and so are they,” Reese said.

Reese has said all season she wants a balanced offense with seven capable scorers on the field. Against Drexel the first time, many of Maryland’s key threats were yet to break out.

Freshman midfielder Kori Edmondson was a highly-regarded prospect at that point, but had still barely seen the field. She impressed in the contest, scoring her second-career goal and making a few nice plays in transition.

That showing earned her increased playing time, and ever since that point, all she’s done is rattle off the team’s second-most goals with 36, including nine hat tricks.

Junior attackers Eloise Clevenger and Chrissy Thomas — both primarily assisters entering the year — have also emerged as scoring weapons in the latter half of the year. None of them were players Drexel was likely to key in on.

The Dragons may have spent a little more energy on Leubecker, who’s been playing through a nagging hamstring issue late in the year, according to Reese. Her production likewise decreased, as she scored just six goals in her last six games leading up to the Big Ten tournament championship — and four of them came in one contest.

But she bounced back in the loss to No. 1-seed Northwestern, scoring three times on six shots. While the stat sheet portrayed a good-not-great game from Leubecker, her explosiveness and shooting prowess looked as plentiful as ever.

“We’re a different team when she’s on the field,” Reese said. “It’s just another spark on our offense. She’s a great leader … she understands what teams are doing.”

Drexel enters the NCAA tournament with a middle-of-the-road scoring offense, ranking 68th of 120 programs nationally with 11.65 goals per game. It didn’t undergo the same growth that Maryland did, but they did finish the regular season on a five-game win streak before losing to Towson in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament semifinals. 

“Knowing their tendencies is definitely helpful,” senior goalkeeper Emily Sterling said. “Learning people’s looks and taking one look away at a time I think is like something that we really focus on … for playing these teams that we’ve played before.”

The surprising late emergence of senior midfielder Alex Wall as an offensive weapon was a pleasant surprise for Drexel. She scored 13 times over its last six games — second-most in that stretch behind the team’s overall leading scorer, senior midfielder Corinne Bednarik — after scoring eight in her first 12 contests.

And no one could have foreseen the Dragons’ goalkeeper, sophomore Jenika Cuocco, turning into one of the nation’s best in her first year as a starter. She’s a brick wall in front of the cage, tied for the fifth-highest save percentage in the country at .532.

Her presence takes pressure off of players like fifth-year defender Peighton Bement, senior defender Belle McHugh and Bednarik — who also leads Drexel in ground balls — that make up the second-best scoring defense on a per-game basis in the CAA.

“We’ve seen them play man-to-man defense, we’ve seen them play zones,” Reese said. “We’ve seen a lot of everything. But … get to this point in the year and you expect everything.”

Reese said after the last match with Drexel that she didn’t like how her squad’s energy seemed to falter late in the game. But in a postseason atmosphere, effort should be the last thing the Terps are lacking.

“It’s really exciting to get a second chance opportunity against them,” senior midfielder Shaylan Ahearn said. “To show them what we’ve developed into this season and how strong we’ve become.”

Opening draw from Sentara Park is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday.