Under the Radar? Still-Improving Maryland OK Without the Spotlight

The Maryland women knocked off Denver 10-8 on Saturday, the second national semifinalist from a year ago that the Terps have beaten this spring.

The Terps’ reward was moving up one spot to No. 10 in the USA Lacrosse Division I Top 20, but still hovering under the radar despite the program’s pedigree.

“It does feel a little like that,” head coach Cathy Reese said.

Maryland started last year ranked second. This year, the Terps were ranked sixth at the start and have overcome finishing struggles — both with shots and at the end of games — to go 4-1 heading into Wednesday’s 5 p.m. start at William & Mary. After edging Syracuse on the road on Hannah Leubecker’s overtime goal to move up to No. 5, the next weekend an overtime loss to Florida sent them to No. 11. That left them as underdogs on the road when they traveled to then-No. 9 Denver.

“It seems to be what people want to make of us, and that’s fine,” Reese said. “It’s one of these things that we need to detach ourselves from what people are reading in the media and focus on what we can control, and that’s the game in front of us. Our sport this year, same on the men’s side, is kind of all over the place. You never know what you’ll see, and that’s why we have the games.”

Defending champion Northwestern and now perennial Final Four participant Boston College remain darlings atop the rankings. Unbeatens James Madison and Michigan are off to hot starts, and the ACC trio of Syracuse, Notre Dame and North Carolina all have compelling storylines. Denver is looking to build on last year’s success, and now Stony Brook has added a breakthrough win to its resume with Tuesday’s win over Syracuse.

Maryland isn’t being talked about as much as usual, but since its 2010 NCAA championship, the Terps have won a national title at least once every four years that the tournament was contested. The Terps last won a crown in 2019.

“You can use it as motivation if you want, but it’s not anything honestly past that,” Leubecker said. “I think this season has spoken to that more than most seasons. There’s been so many upsets, so many games where everybody thought it was going to go one way and it went a different way.”

Leubecker is one of eight fifth-year players on the team who returned to keep the Terps’ championship trend going. Their experience is spread across the field, from goalie Emily Sterling through a new-look defense that is formidable again with Brianna Lamoureux and Aiden Peduzzi teaming up with transfers Meghan Ball and Sophie Halus and sophomores Kennedy Major and Neve O’Ferrall. They have come together quickly and are tied for eighth in scoring defense at 7.80 goals allowed per game.

Another fifth-year, Shaylan Ahearn, has Maryland top 20 on the draw — so the Terps have won plenty of possession. It’s the finishing on offense that has been most troubling, and that has played into some slower finishes. The Terps are confident they can fix their shooting woes, and when they figure it out, they will be that much stronger.

“Even within these wins, I think we’ve been able to learn a lot about ourselves and what we need to do to get better,” Reese said. “That’s what’s sort of encouraging and exciting about this team is the fact that we still have so much room to grow.”

The Terps are No. 109 out of 120 Division I teams in shooting percentage. They have connected on 35.5 percent of shots after shooting 42.2 percent last year.

“It can only go up,” attacker Eloise Clevenger said. “I think it’s just having that confidence to be able to stick it.”

Clevenger, the senior who orchestrates the offense, is correct. The Terps have been generating tons of opportunities. Their 34.4 shots per game are good for 16th in the country, but Maryland is 58th in scoring at 12.2 goals per game, a number that would certainly rise if its shooting percentage improves.

“If you overthink it, if you get too in your head about shooting, it’s not going to help you,” Leubecker said. “We’re generating good offense. We just have to be able to have the confidence and mental capacity to finish the shot, finish the play.”

The Terps are 26th nationwide in shots on goal per game (24.0), so they’re not completely inaccurate. They just have to be better.

“A lot of the goalies we’ve seen are really good,” Clevenger said. “Attacking wise, we have to take that extra second just to throw in a fake and find the back of the net.”

Reese loved seeing more balance out of Maryland in the win over Denver. The Terps’ leading scorers were Victoria Hensh with a hat trick and Maggie Weisman, who scored twice. Clevenger, Leubecker, Libby May, Kori Edmondson and Shannon Smith all scored once.

The Terps still want to get more players involved to give different looks. Clevenger, May, Edmondson and Leubecker have taken 63 percent of the team’s shots this year. Clevenger, who leads the team with 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists), has been more aggressive than ever. She’s on pace for more than 100 shots after never attempting more than 59 in a season, proving she’s more than just a feeder.

“As she’s gone through this season, she’s really stepping up and making sure she’s dangerous as a threat with also her head up to see her teammates,” Reese said. “She’s somebody that’s going to draw doubles. She just has such good field vision that she can see and create things.”

Maryland also is hoping to finish games better. Maryland held a 7-2 halftime lead over Florida only to be outscored 10-5 in the second half before falling in overtime. They were shut out in the fourth quarter by Denver but only allowed one goal to hold off the Pioneers. The Terps have outscored opponents 24-6 in the first quarter and 35-13 in the first half. They have been outscored in the fourth quarter 9-6.

“We’ve come out strong,” Leubecker said. “And that’s great, but we can’t rely on that. We have to continue to execute through the next plays and the next quarters.”

Maryland has had its moments, like that victory in the Dome over Syracuse. Clevenger found Leubecker for the tying goal to send the game into overtime and again for the winner in the extra period.

“We lost to Syracuse pretty big last year,” Reese said. “They pretty much dominated us the entire game last year, and they’re an awesome team, so that was a really good win for us to be able to gut out an overtime win on the road. I think this group is still learning about ourselves but building confidence in each practice and each game.”

Maryland has another big opportunity ahead by hosting No. 3 James Madison on Sunday at 11 a.m. JMU twice beat the Terps last year, the second time to end their NCAA title hopes. It’s the fourth top 10 team Maryland will face this year.

“We’re used to playing hard teams,” Leubecker said. “We prepare for every game one game at a time; we don’t want to overlook anyone. But we’re excited for this weekend for that game. Maybe a little bit of revenge.”