COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Cathy Reese isn’t ready to make any hasty proclamations. February’s just not the right time.
But it’s hard to deny that this year’s Maryland women’s lacrosse team is beginning to resemble the Maryland of old. “Old,” of course, referencing the pre-pandemic Terps that won the national championship in 2019. Behind its veteran leaders, that team had a certain moxie. It could put teams away and not think twice about it.
Through three games, Maryland looks more like that team than the ones of 2020 and 2021. Those teams looked like they were missing something. Or someone.
Aurora Cordingley, a graduate transfer from Johns Hopkins making her College Park debut as a member of the Terps, had four goals and six assists as No. 4 Maryland dismantled No. 11 Florida on Saturday 18-8. Her 10 points and six assists were the most by a Maryland player in a single game since Alex Aust hit those marks on March 5, 2013.
“You look at that, I think that says it all,” Reese said. “To have someone come in and have the field vision she has and the ability to find open players, that’s something special.”
There were 1,218 fans on hand in the first game at Maryland’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex that allowed spectators since March 2020, and the Terps wasted little time firing them up.
Maryland (3-0) scored six straight goals to close the first quarter — a run spearheaded by three goals and two assists by Cordingley — to take a 7-1 lead. Everything went right during the final 7:31 of the period. Shaylan Ahearn (career-high 14 draw controls) was a one-woman wrecking crew in the circle. The ride was furious, preventing Florida from having a meaningful possession in that time. The offense, of course, was crisp.
The second quarter, though, belonged to Florida. Exactly one week after hanging with No. 2 North Carolina in a 15-11 loss, the Gators cut the deficit to 8-6 with 25 seconds before halftime when Danielle Pavinelli (four goals) went to cage with a full head of steam.
Perhaps the most impactful goal of the game was scored 22 seconds later when Cordingley assisted Eloise Clevenger (two goals), extending the lead back to three. That was the first goal of a 9-0 run that extended six minutes into the fourth quarter.
“Second quarter was tough for us,” Reese said. We started, we had a turnover, a few great saves by [Florida’s Sarah Reznick] — just a few opportunities that we had that were great, but we didn’t finish them.”
Five players scored during the game-changing run.
“Cathy talks about the energy of the game,” Ahearn said. “You inflate yourself, and when you inflate yourself, you almost deflate the other team. That’s exactly what happened.”
Seven players got in on the offensive explosion. Cordingley and Hannah Leubecker led all Terps goal scorers with four apiece, but Shannon Smith was right behind them with a hat trick. Grace Griffin, Libby May and Clevenger each scored twice.
With Cordingley playing mostly at X, Maryland picked apart a Florida defense that tried everything to stop the Terps. Whether it was zone, man or backer, Maryland answered the bell.
“Aurora’s coming into a new team, and I’m going a lot of her to organize and run our offense,” Reese said. “Playing primarily behind, the ball rotates through her all the time.”
Even with this being her first year in College Park, Cordingley is already an on-field general. She’s joined by Penn transfer Abby Bosco, Grace Griffin, Maddie Sanchez and Torie Barretta as veterans. Everyone else on the field, at least eligibility-wise, is a sophomore.
That means that, even though Reese is pleased with the progress and the overall growth from a 13-10 combined record the past two seasons, proclamations won’t be made.
“No proclamations! I won’t do that,” she said. “We’re really young. With the year that the NCAA gave back, I have maybe seven or eight players in that class who were on the field for us. … That 2020 season and 2021 just helped us learn about ourselves and gain some experience.”
Cordingley wasn’t worried about disrupting the chemistry being built during those leaner years. The former Johns Hopkins star who ranks ninth in the program’s Division history with 182 points, assimilated quickly. The only pressure, she said, is knowing that she’ll have to play against her former team on April 2.
“It’s definitely a lot of pressure transferring within the same conference, knowing I’m going to have to play against my old teammates later on in the season, but there are seven people on the offensive end and every single one of them is a threat,” Cordingley said. “I don’t feel like I have that much weight on my shoulders.”
She might not feel the weight, and Maryland might not need her to carry it, but Reese is confident in Cordingley if that has to be the case. It was a team effort Saturday, but it’s hard to deny how Cordingley adds a significant wrinkle to the Terps’ offense.
“I wish I had her four years ago,” Reese said. “That’s something that’ll eat at me for awhile.”