No. 2 Maryland women’s lacrosse dominates Saint Joseph’s in season-opener, 15-5

Maddie Yoder scored first to open the second half, and the Saint Joseph’s bench erupted. They hoped it would spark a team looking to come back from a 9-2 halftime deficit.

It did not.

Six game minutes later, Maryland led 14-3 and the only thing Saint Joseph’s could hope for was a comfortable bus ride home to Philadelphia.

No. 2 Maryland women’s lacrosse dominated the Hawks, winning its season opener by a score of 15-5.

Five goals would have been tied for Maryland’s second-fewest allowed in a game last season.

Junior attacker Victoria Hensh drew first blood, scoring the Terps’ first goal less than two minutes into the game. 

Yoder created space to her left and buried a shot into the top right corner for Saint Joseph’s first goal of the game. But Maryland took just 14 seconds to respond, as senior attacker Libby May caught an Eloise Clevenger pass in front of the goal and dropped it under the goalie’s outstretched stick, making it 2-1 with 8:48 remaining.

Maryland’s offense caught fire after that, scoring four more goals in the subsequent 4:29.

Going up for a draw control, highly-touted Princeton transfer Marge Donovan landed awkwardly and went down holding her right ankle. The graduate student defender was helped to the locker room and did not return to the game. Coach Cathy Reese said after the game the updates she received were positive.

Reese emphasized before the season that after Aurora Cordingley’s departure this offseason, she wanted to play a “selfless” style of offense. Her vision manifested quickly — eight different Terps scored Maryland’s first eight goals.

“I love that over half our goals were assisted,” Reese said. “I love that we were moving the ball well, and I love that we were finding different ways to score.”

Clevenger played a big role in that ball movement, leading the Terps with four assists. The junior attacker will be thrust into a bigger role this season, and made the most of it Saturday.

“Her selflessness and her vision of the field is just so good,” junior attacker Chrissy Thomas said. “She’s always ready to give the ball to her teammates to score instead of her, so that makes her a really big threat on the field.”

The Terps led 7-1 at the end of the first quarter. They outshot the Hawks 14-4, a trend that continued for the rest of the game. Maryland finished with 37 shots to Saint Joseph’s 16.

An otherwise uneventful second quarter saw Thomas score her second of three goals. The attacker played in five games last season, but did not record a goal. The three today were the first of her career. 

After Yoder’s early goal, Maryland owned the third quarter. What was already a blowout became a rout, as the Terps’ physically dominated the Hawks on both ends of the field. They conceded very little ground on defense and bullied their way inside on the offensive end. They scored five goals in a 5:23 span, including two from sophomore midfielder Jordyn Lipkin. 

Lipkin had a big game on both ends of the field, scoring four times and coming up with four ground balls. 

“She goes hard, she gives us everything she has all over the field,” Reese said. “To see her now have a year of experience and come back just a little more confident … we’ll see some great things from her this season.”

When the whistle blew on the quarter and both teams huddled, the difference in attitude and body language was evident. The Hawks looked bullied, and the Terps looked ready to keep bullying.

Senior attacker Hannah Leubecker quickly scored for the Terps in the fourth quarter, and after two Hawks garbage-time goals, the clock hit zeroes with Maryland on top.

Reese pointed out that while the Terps only allowed five goals, much of that was due to stellar play from senior goalkeeper Emily Sterling. A defensive group with many new faces, Reese said, needs time to gel and grow.

“[Syracuse is] a great team and we haven’t played them in a couple years,” Reese said. “So defensively, we’re going to need to tighten those areas up to make sure that we’re ready for that group.”