No. 10 Maryland women’s lacrosse dominates Ohio State, 18-7

Maryland women’s lacrosse was grateful to have Eloise Clevenger back against Ohio State, after she missed Wednesday’s contest with a personal matter. 

All the junior attacker did in her return was set the program single-game assist record with eight, adding on another goal herself to set a new career-high in points.

“It was really kind of a magical moment,” coach Cathy Reese said. “[Former single-game record holder Alex Aust] was on the sideline and Elle’s in the game…it’s just pretty powerful.”

She helped the No. 10 Terps (12-3, 4-0 Big Ten) cruise to a 18-7 win over the Buckeyes (5-9, 0-4 Big Ten) at SECU Stadium on Saturday. The victory is Maryland’s ninth in a row.

Her versatility allowed the offense to open up greatly. She dominated from behind the net — where almost all of her assists came from — and the attention she warranted in front of the net let junior attacker Chrissy Thomas prowl behind when she wasn’t there.

Clevenger may have stolen the show, but it was still the Terps’ Senior Day. Maddie Sanchez — the only player left from the 2019 national championship squad — Abby Bosco, Marge Donovan and Sophia Antonopoulos all celebrated their last career regular season game in College Park.

“The past few years have been a dream come true,” said Bosco, who transferred to Maryland in 2022 after four years at Penn. “I’m speechless for the experience.”

Senior midfielder Shaylan Ahearn — who plans to return in 2023 — also made Maryland history against the Buckeyes. She recorded her 100th draw control of the season, doing so for the second-straight campaign. 

If she keeps her pace of 6.87 a game and Maryland plays five postseason games — which it’s done every full season since joining the Big Ten — she’ll break Taylor Cummings’ single-season program record of 144.

“I honestly had no idea I was anywhere near that,” Ahearn said. “It means the world. I’ve grown up watching this program and wanting to be a part of it.”

Clevenger got to work immediately in the first quarter, getting the Terps off to a hot start. She tallied points on each of their first three goals; she assisted junior attacker Victoria Hensh for the first, wrapped around the crease to score the second and fed senior attacker Hannah Leubecker for the third.

At the 7:30 mark of the opening quarter, junior midfielder Shannon Smith dodged through three Buckeyes and shot a twizzler past junior goalkeeper Regan Alexander. Alexander, who’s also Ohio State’s leader in ground balls and caused turnovers, had one of her worst games of the year. She finished with a save percentage of .333 — her lowest since March 9 — and didn’t record a caused turnover for the first time since February.

“Shannon’s getting better and better as she just learns more about how teams play zones,” Reese said.”Today was a breakthrough game for her…that was huge.”

Clevenger fed Smith for another Maryland goal, following two points from Buckeyes’ leading scorer, senior attacker Nicole Ferrara. Leubecker tacked on two more — assisted by Ahearn and senior attacker Libby May — to bring the Terps’ lead to 7-3 entering the second frame.

Maryland’s defense dominated all afternoon — the Buckeyes only had 13 shots-on-goal all game — but the second quarter was its most stifling performance. Ohio State turned the ball over four times while only getting off three shots.

“We knew we had to adjust and fix those tiny mistakes,” Bosco said. “We were shifting together, and when we do what the game plan is and we all shift together…everyone’s covered.

Meanwhile, the Terps’ offense took advantage of Ohio State’s double team-heavy defense. May got on the board via Clevenger’s fourth assist, and freshman midfielder Kori Edmondson drew two free-position shots, which she made both of.

Thomas capped a 4-0 quarter and 11-3 half with a catch-and-shoot goal off yet another Clevenger feed.

Leubecker finished a hat trick on the first goal of the second half, scoring a pass from — unsurprisingly — Clevenger.

“To see Eloise’s growth as we’ve gone through the season, and then to see her execution today with the minimal amount of turnovers and the assisted goals…that’s a huge reason why it is really special,” Reese said.

Junior attacker Jamie Lasda assisted Ferrara’s second goal, and after a seven-minute scoring drought by both teams, put one in the net herself to make it a 12-5 game. 

But goals from Smith and May immediately mitigated the damage. And after one more Ferrara-assisted goal, the Terps scored the next four to induce a running clock and take a 12-point lead. One of them came from sophomore midfielder Demma Hall, who scored her first-career point.

Lasda scored once more to bring the game to its final score of 18-7 and the Terps remained undefeated in conference play.

They’ve got a five-day rest before they travel to University Park and take on No. 17 Penn State on Thursday.