Preview: No. 6 Maryland women’s lacrosse prepares for weekday matchup against Drexel

There wasn’t much room for silver linings after No. 6 Maryland women’s lacrosse’s 20-11 loss to No. 2 Syracuse on Friday. But coach Cathy Reese found one.

“Having this game happen in our second game of the season,” Reese said.

There’s plenty of time for the Terps (1-1) to steady the ship, starting Tuesday in Philadelphia against Drexel (2-1).

“This needs to be a point for us that we can go in an upward direction and start to make some changes and adjustments and execute our gameplan,” Reese said.

Maryland received a wake-up call from the Orange. They looked out of sorts as they left attackers open and their own attackers couldn’t capitalize on opportunities. 

Despite the final score, Maryland outshot Syracuse, but converted less than half of its free position shots and shot under 50 percent from inside eight meters.

”We moved the ball, we had wide open looks inside … but ours were saved,” Reese said. “[Syracuse goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer] had 13 saves to our six, that’s a game changer.”

The Terps also failed to take advantage of numerous woman-up opportunities. In fact, they were outscored 2-0 with a numbers advantage.

On the other side of the field, a Maryland defensive group coined “Defender U” was picked apart Friday. The USA Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year, graduate student attacker Meaghan Tyrrell, scored six goals and dished out five more, totaling a career-high 11 points. Graduate student attacker Megan Carney added on four goals of her own.

“Defensively we didn’t execute our game plan,” Reese said. “We didn’t help each other out. We didn’t slide when we needed to. And we made it a really long day.”

Maryland will look to rebound against a Drexel team looking to build off the most successful stretch in program history. After just one winning season from 2014 to 2019 — and the pandemic cutting a promising 5-2 start in 2020 short — it notched back-to-back NCAA tournament bids in 2021 and 2022 for the first time in program history. 

In 2022, the Dragons were also forced to overcome first-year coach Kim Hillier leaving the team for personal reasons. Despite her absence, they finished 12-8 and took home their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association championship.

Hillier officially stepped down shortly after the end of the season. Without her, interim coach Katie O’Donnell leads a young team with fresh faces trying to solidify their identity. 

They’re without three of their championship roster’s top scorers, as midfielders Karson Harris and Lucy Schneidereith, and attacker Colleen Grady all graduated. Together, the trio combined for 143 of the team’s 258 goals in 2022.

Drexel turns to two seniors — midfielder Corinne Bednarik and attacker Allison Drake — to lead the offense in their absence. Bednarik was second on the team in points in 2022, tallying 37 goals and 26 assists. She is tied for the team lead this season with eight goals and 16 shots, but her five assists gives her the lead in points (13).

Drake only started 11 games last season, but still finished fifth in goals. She’s yet to play in a game this year, and it’s unclear whether she’ll play against Maryland. She hasn’t received a public injury designation.

Fifth year attacker Grace Harding has also emerged as a surprise contributor for the Dragons. After scoring just five goals in 40 games over her first four seasons, she’s up to eight in her first three games this season. 

Drexel also returns all four of its starting defenders from last year. Fifth year Peighton Bement leads a group that’s third in the CAA in caused turnovers, second in draw controls, second in ground balls and tied for first in clears.

The Terps and the Dragons will face off at 2 p.m. at Vidas Field. Reese said that veteran leadership stepping up to keep the team focused and positive through adversity will be critical to getting back on track.

“We have 13 new players and a lot of them are on the field,” Reese said. “We’ll be back Tuesday ready to compete, there’s no doubt in my mind with that, but we need to settle in and make some adjustments and be ready to go.”