No. 10 Maryland women’s lacrosse surges past No. 15 Michigan, 13-7

Erin Garvey scored for Michigan to open the fourth quarter, cutting Maryland’s lead down to one.

It had been a close affair all afternoon at SECU Stadium; the Terps had led the Wolverines since 4:52 in the first quarter, but never by more than four.

But they responded swiftly to the Michigan goal, finally pulling away when it mattered. The next five goals came from the Terps as they surged past the Wolverines in crunch time. 

Their defense held it down on the other end, as Michigan missed its final five shots. That cemented a No. 10 Maryland (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) victory over No. 15 Michigan (9-5, 2-2 Big Ten) on Sunday in its conference home opener, 13-7.

“Everyone was attacking hard, and that’s what you need to do against a team that plays really good one-on-one defense,” coach Cathy Reese said. “We need to make it hard for them to slide and force them to double us.”

The Wolverines’ offense has run through sophomore attacker Jill Smith all year — she’s their overwhelming leader in goals this season. But the Terps kept her in check all game. She finished with just one goal on six shots, forcing Michigan to spread the ball around more than it wanted to.

Senior midfielder Shaylan Ahearn put on another clinic. The two-time Big Ten Midfielder of the Week this year dominated the draw, helping Maryland win 10 of the first 12, and 15 of 23 overall. She also showed out offensively, tying a career-high with four points. 

“When you win the draw it starts that offense,” graduate student defender Abby Bosco said. “I think Shay has been doing a phenomenal job.”

The Terps quickly found their footing after a slow offensive start, capitalizing on Wolverine turnovers and scoring two goals in 1:25, courtesy of junior attacker Eloise Clevenger and Ahearn.

Michigan followed that up with a scoring spurt of its own five minutes later, evening the score with two well-assisted goals in a 1:08 run.

Freshman midfielder Kori Edmondson picked the pocket of Smith, just over a minute past the Wolverines’ second score in their two-goal spurt. Fancy footwork by her and Clevenger set up senior attacker Libby May with a clear opening to the goal, which she took to give Maryland back the lead with two minutes left in the quarter.

An impressive save by senior goalkeeper Emily Sterling with seconds left kept the Terps’ lead at 3-2 entering the second frame.

The sloppy play by both teams continued into the second quarter. Neither turned the ball over a particularly high amount, but each side looked sluggish at times and couldn’t get anything going on offense.

“Michigan is good, and their pressure is hard,” Reese said. “Defensively they were giving us a battle.”

Smith finally got on the board with five minutes left in the half, while Clevenger converted on an impressive shot from just inside the arc. That was all the offensive noise in the quarter, and Maryland entered halftime up 5-3. 

Both offenses came out firing in the second half.

“We’re so strong and tough when we play together,” Reese said. “We needed to come out [of the half] knowing and believing in each other and being confident in what we’re doing.”

Ahearn fed junior attacker Chrissy Thomas and senior attacker Hannah Leubecker for the first two goals of the half, extending the Maryland lead to four.

But Michigan didn’t stay down long. It scored three times in four minutes after a scoring drought of over 10 minutes between the second and third quarters, bringing its deficit to 7-6 with 5:24 left in the third. 

May wasn’t done after her two first-half goals, as she scored from the arc 59 seconds later to double Maryland’s lead. That 8-6 score held entering the fourth quarter.

The final frame was completely controlled by Maryland. May scored twice more as part of the offensive onslaught, and after strong defensive play to close it out, the bench rushed the field in celebration. 

“We’ve been working towards [a 60 minute performance] all season,” Bosco said. “I think it’s really starting to click for us.”

The Terps were victorious for a seventh-straight game, which they’ll look to improve even further when they take on Johns Hopkins on Wednesday.