Preview: No. 2 Maryland women’s lacrosse readies for another top-five clash against No. 1 Northwestern

No. 2 Maryland women’s lacrosse (10-2, 3-0 Big Ten) welcomes No. 1 Northwestern (10-2, 2-1 Big Ten) to College Park on Saturday for the Terps’ second-straight week with a top-two Big Ten matchup.

Maryland defeated previous No. 2 Michigan 8-6 last weekend behind a strong defensive performance. The Terps trailed by three goals early in the third quarter but only allowed one goal for the remainder of the match during a 6-1 run to clinch the victory. 

“We did a really good job of sticking together and causing some turnovers,” coach Cathy Reese said. “We had some shot clock violations. We played some man down situations that they didn’t get good looks from and all in all that was a great defensive effort for Maryland.” 

Goalkeeper Emily Sterling played a big part in the defensive unit’s success, recording nine saves and allowing just six goals facing 28 shots. Sterling boasts a .558 save percentage this season, third-best in the nation. 

Eloise Clevenger has excelled as the primary playmaker for the Terps this year. She has recorded a team-high 41 assists, fourth most in the country. 

Clevenger proved her merit as a scorer as well against the Wolverines, netting a timely hat trick to jump-start the Maryland offense. 

“Sometimes Eloise gets caught not going to goal as much as we need her to,” Reese said. “When she could shift and make that adjustment, especially in the second half, we started to get a rhythm going on offense and so we need that from her.” 

The Terps will need more firepower on Saturday when they take on the third-highest scoring offense in the nation. The Wildcats average 17.75 goals per game and overwhelmed Rutgers 22-11 in their last match. 

Northwestern is led by the dynamic attacking duo of Izzy Scane and Madison Taylor. Scane ranks second in the NCAA with 53 goals this season and has scored at least four goals in nine straight games. Taylor has netted 44 goals and also added 20 assists. 

“They’re two awesome players and they’ve controlled a lot of their offense,” Reese said. “They’ve got a lot of dangerous threats on the field all over the place.” 

Erin Coykendall is the standout playmaker for the Wildcats. She has recorded a team-high 33 assists and added 24 goals. Dylan Amonte and Lindsey Frank have also tallied double-digit goals. 

Northwestern, the reigning national champion, have racked up six ranked wins this year — including victories over North Carolina, Johns Hopkins and Denver. The Wildcats’ only two losses were an early-season 14-10 away loss to then-No. 8 Notre Dame and a tight 14-13 conference loss to Penn State. 

These two programs share a lot of history. Reese and Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller played together and won two national championships at Maryland in the 1990’s. 

The Terps hold the all-time advantage 18-12 over the Wildcats. The two programs have faced each other in many NCAA Tournament battles over the years, including two national championship games. Maryland defeated Northwestern in the 2010 final but the Wildcats got revenge a year later to claim the title. 

The Terps will look to get some revenge of their own this year after suffering a bruising 13-6 loss in their regular season finale to Northwestern last year.