No. 9 Maryland women’s lacrosse tops No. 2 James Madison in top-10 clash, 11-8

The Terps led the Dukes late, with James Madison looking to execute a comeback down by three. But Libby May ran towards the goal with just over four minutes left and fired a shot past the keeper for a dagger score.

May starred for Maryland, scoring four goals on five shots in another efficient outing. Behind May, No. 9 Maryland women’s lacrosse defeated No. 2 James Madison at home on Sunday, 11-8, to avenge last season’s NCAA Tournament loss. 

“This is something that we’ve kind of been thinking about, you know, we’ve lost to James Madison three times in the past two years,” May said. “So it definitely feels really good, but we have a lot to look forward to and a lot to work on. While we did come out on top today, we have a lot of things that we can learn from.” 

The match was close with not much to split the sides — the Terps attempted 32 shots, while the Dukes had 30 shots. The draw was one area where Maryland held a clear dominance, controlling 14 of the 23 faceoffs. The added possessions ultimately gave the Terps’ offense the advantage.

James Madison’s high-flying offense came out firing from the opening possession. The Dukes struck first with a dynamic goal from Maddie Epke, followed by Olivia Mattis’ sixth goal of the year. 

Attacker Isabella Peterson placed a free position shot perfectly in the corner of the net to beat goalkeeper Emily Sterling and give James Madison an early 3-1 lead. Katelyn Morgan added another score before the first quarter ended. 

But Maryland’s defense tightened up in the second quarter and held the Dukes scoreless for the first six minutes. James Madison eventually broke through as Savannah Derey netted her eight goal of the season to extend the Dukes’ advantage to 5-2. 

Maryland came into the match with an emphasis on taking advantage of free position chances. The Terps certainly had their chances, with James Madison being whistled for several early fouls. But the results were a mixed bag as Kori Edmondson netted Maryland’s first goal from the spot but the Terps failed to convert on the four other eight-meter opportunities in the match.

The Terps got back into the match after the Derey goal left them trailing by three midway through the second quarter, this time scoring from open play instead of the spot.

Chrissy Thomas found Hannah Leubecker with a pinpoint pass just 20 seconds after Derey’s score, who slammed her shot past the goalkeeper. May then scored twice to tie the game at five after one half. Her second goal came after a mental lapse from the Dukes, turning the ball over in their own end of the field. 

Both offenses were held back at times in the first half with early turnovers — each side turned the ball over at least 10 times over the first two quarters.

Each defense clamped up in the second half, with offense hard to come by. James Madison grabbed the lead with another goal from Peterson for the first score of the third quarter over five minutes into the frame.

The Dukes’ defense was especially tough in the third quarter, hanging tight and frustrating the Maryland offense for much of the period. But the Terps found momentum late with a quick succession of goals from Shaylan Ahearn, Eloise Clevenger and May to go ahead 8-6 entering the fourth quarter.

Maryland’s offense started to really lock into a groove in the fourth quarter. Clevenger delivered an intrusive pass to Leubecker, who scored her second goal of the day. Hailey Russo added a close range goal less than a minute later to seize control. 

“In the second half, obviously that run was huge for us, just kind of putting our foot on the gas and having that confidence and then not letting up,” coach Cathy Reese said. 

James Madison attempted a late rally but ultimately couldn’t overcome the multi-goal deficit it faced. 

Sterling put in another sparkling performance in the cage for the Terps, especially in the second half. She denied James Madison early and often with 14 saves, nine of which came after halftime. She pulled off a massive save on a free position chance from Peterson midway through the fourth to help stifle the comeback bid and seal the win.

“It’s all the defense,” Sterling said. “I always say a goalie is only as good as their defense is and my defense went out there and we stuck to our game plan. They set me up to do the easy work back there.”