Photo courtesy of Maryland Terrapins
No. 2 seed Maryland’s women’s lacrosse fell in the Big Ten Championship to No. 1 seed Northwestern in a close game, 8-7, on Sunday.
Going into the Big Ten Tournament, the Terps defeated No. 7 seed Rutgers 17-11 in the first round and No. 12 seed Michigan next, 13-10. Maryland also defeated both teams during the regular season.
Northwestern dominated Maryland when they played during the regular season, surpassing the Terps with a 12-goal defeat, 16-4.
It was a game for the Terps to reclaim victory. About 1,403 fans in College Park filled the stands to see it, and what started to look like Maryland would take the Big Ten title home at halftime took a turn late in the third to fourth quarter.
Maryland started hot in the first half with five goals, keeping Northwestern to only two goals.
The Wildcats were frustratingly having a hard time breaking through. The Terps forced multiple shot clock violations, and the defense held strong, forcing Northwestern to take shots they may not have otherwise taken.
A lead player in keeping Northwestern stagnant was sophomore JJ Suriano, with 11 saves in the first half alone. She ended the game with a total of 18 saves and a new career high, a big reason why the Terps maintained the lead in the first half. But, relying on Suriano could have ultimately been their downfall as well.
The Terps failed to create more shots by the third quarter. There was a shot differential between Maryland and Northwestern; by the end of the game, the Wildcats had a total of 26 shots on goal to Maryland’s 14.
Northwestern outshot Maryland on goal every quarter.
The Terps maintained the lead in the first half, largely due to Suriano’s saves and the shots they did take, they made sure counted.
However, Maryland relied heavily on Suranio with very minimal shots on goal. They also struggled with winning draw controls, which allowed the Wildcats to come back in the second half.
With a little over five minutes left in the third, Northwestern found a way to break the defense and score two goals back-to-back, which ultimately started their comeback in the game.
They earned a total of six goals in the last half, while Maryland could only produce two.
Junior Kori Edmondson tied the game in the last quarter with her fourth goal of the game, leaving only one minute on the clock, and overtime seemed inevitable.
But Northwestern shattered it with a winning goal with 15 seconds left. Both teams played a tough, close game, but only one could come out on the winning side.
Next, Maryland will be heading to the NCAA first round on May 9.
