No. 2-seed Maryland women’s lacrosse pushes past No. 7-seed Ohio State, 11-7

Libby May was already having a strong performance against Ohio State. The senior attacker had a hat trick as the Terps held onto a two-goal lead.

But after Kate Sites extended that lead to three, she put the dagger in the Buckeyes’ hearts — jumping to catch a pass from Shaylan Ahearn and slamming it into the back of the net.

The No. 2-seed Terps (13-5) ran away with an 11-7 victory over Ohio State (5-12) at SECU Stadium in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Saturday.

They were without two key attackers — senior Hannah Leubecker and junior Victoria Hensh — due to injuries. But that paved the way for their offensive depth to play a role. Sites had a two-goal performance, while freshman midfielder Emma Muchnick and sophomore midfielder Jordyn Lipkin had a big hand in the attack as well.

Maryland was lights-out on the draw, finishing with a 19-to-3 dominance over the Buckeyes. Ahearn had eight of those, and became the fourth Terp to ever rack up 300 in a career.

“Having [Abby Bosco] [Shannon Smith] and [Kori Edmondson] on my circle with me, they give me all the confidence in the world,” Ahearn said.

It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the first quarter.

Junior attacker Eloise Clevenger had a single-game program record the last time the two schools met. And she got right back to work in the first quarter, assisting the first two goals to Ahearn and freshman midfielder Kori Edmondson.

“She’s such a cohesive player, just a really good quarterback for our offense,” May said. “She’s always dodging super hard, which opens up other people but then she’s also a threat [herself].”

The Buckeyes responded with two quick goals five minutes later. But in Leubecker and Hensh’s absences, Sites stepped up, scoring just her third goal of the season on an eight-meter attempt to put the Terps back up.

Edmondson followed that up with an impressive tally, dodging through three defenders and finding the back of the net. May entered the scoring party less than a minute later, converting Clevenger’s third assist of the afternoon.

The next seven goals alternated teams, a trend that continued all the way into the final frame.

Ohio State opened second-quarter scoring courtesy of senior Caly O’Brien. She led it in goals for the game, finishing with a hat trick. The Terps responded with another Clevenger-to-May connection less than a minute later.

The Buckeyes scored one more time before half, which junior attacker Chrissy Thomas followed up with one more of her own. Maryland led 7-4 entering halftime.

The Terps struggled to penetrate the Ohio State defense in the third quarter, as it seemed to ramp up the pressure strongly. May scored one more goal on an eight meter, but the offense was blanked otherwise in the frame.

O’Brien continued her strong performance, scoring the Buckeyes’ first two goals in the frame’s first seven minutes. But Maryland’s defense also played stingy lacrosse, and while it allowed seven shots, only a few got past senior goalkeeper Emily Sterling.

Sterling had an incredible performance, saving 10 shots — including a few impressive nabs.

“You know if you play good, solid defense she’s gonna make the save,” Ahearn said. “She was killing it today, but I think that was a result of the defensive unit working so well together.”

Ohio State was blanked for the remainder of the game as the Maryland defensive unit didn’t allow an inch.

The Terps’ offense remained quiet to open the quarter, but woke up in the latter half. Sites tacked on her second goal — matching her regular-season total for the game — off a nifty assist from Thomas. 

“[Sites] was moving the ball hard so we kept her in there, and kept playing her more and more,” coach Cathy Reese said. “She found herself open in the middle and finished it.”

Junior midfielder Shannon Smith scored the final Maryland goal, and after one more tally from the Buckeyes, the Terps stormed their home field for the final time this season.

They’ll move on to play No. 6-seed Rutgers, who pulled off a 15-14 upset over No. 3-seed Johns Hopkins. That matchup will take place at Ohio State’s facility in Columbus on Friday.

“We’ve got a lot of planning to do,” Reese said. “Their team is playing hard. They’re playing really well right now.”