Beating Northwestern is about more than just getting Jen Giles going, but that’s a good starting point.
Maryland lost to Northwestern in the Big Ten championship game on May 5, a game in which Giles was held scoreless on five shots. The Tewaaraton Award finalist scored twice in the teams’ previous matchup, a 17-13 Maryland win on April 11.
Giles was met with faceguards and struggled to break free, and the normally diverse Terrapin offense simply couldn’t find rhythm. Combine that with Brennan Dwyer’s dominance of the draw circle, and Maryland faced an uphill battle.
“Obviously, you never want to lose and everyone hates losing, but it was just a chance for us to kind of reset and focus in on these past couple weeks on being better,” Maryland coach Cathy Reese said on Monday. “Being better offensively and having better shot selection and making more stops defensively and pushing our transitioning.”
Maryland and Northwestern meet again on Friday with the chance to play in Sunday’s NCAA championship game on the line.
MARYLAND VS. NORTHWESTERN
WHEN: FRIDAY, 7:30 P.M.
WHERE: HOMEWOOD FIELD
WATCH: ESPNEWS
Northwestern’s defense has come a long way after a dismal start to the spring. The Wildcats started 4-3 and allowed 15.57 goals per game, a pace that wouldn’t have been conducive to long-term success. Kelly Amonte Hiller tweaked her personnel, and Northwestern has averaged 11.5 goals allowed per game since.
“We just really focus in, not just with [Giles], but with our whole entire defense,” Amonte Hiller said. “I think early on in the season, our defense wasn't playing great. I would say a little bit midway through March maybe, we really buckled down and really focused in on getting better defensively just for the fundamentals every single day. It's allowed us to keep players like Jen Giles at bay.”
Northwestern’s defense has handled Giles but must also contend with Erica Evans, Brindi Griffin, Caroline Steele, Kali Hartshorn and others. Maryland’s defense will also have its hands full against the dynamic Selena Lasota, Izzy Scane, Lauren Gilbert and Lindsey McKone.
In what’s expected to be a high-scoring environment, the team that can win the draw will have the unquestioned advantage. Dwyer has the leg up, having won 20 draws against Maryland this spring.
Reese has used these last few weeks as a learning tool to get her senior-led group motivated. As if the No. 1 overall seed needed any more motivation, playing in the championship weekend in its home state.
“Again, if things don't go our way — at some point they won't — we've got to just take a deep breath, reset, and get ready for the next play,” Reese said.
BOSTON COLLEGE VS. NORTH CAROLINA
WHEN: FRIDAY, 5 P.M.
WHERE: HOMEWOOD FIELD
WATCH: ESPNEWS
In another conference tournament championship game rematch, Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein doesn’t want to change much.
Sure, she “refreshed our X’s and O’s on offense,” but the pure speed with which the Eagles play is something she doesn’t want to alter — even if their pace might have led to sloppy play in the 15-13 loss to North Carolina in the ACC title game.
“These girls are just so excited that when we play too fast because they're too excited, it's a good thing,” she said. “There's no dull moment. We don't have a problem getting excited for games and being ready to be competitive.”
BC has lost in the NCAA championship game each of the last two seasons and seeks its first title in program history. This would hardly be the end of the road for the Eagles, but this is the last opportunity to win with one of the most talented senior classes in the nation.
All the talk surrounds Sam Apuzzo, Kenzie Kent and Dempsey Arsenault, but Walker-Weinstein was quick to acknowledge that the defensive stars have been around for a while, too.
“I mean the four starting defenders — Christina Walsh, and Hannah Hyatt, Brooke Troy, Elizabeth Miller — have been playing together for three-plus years going to three Final Fours,” she said. “So their experience and defensive chemistry is really awesome.”
That group is all too familiar with UNC’s offensive stalwarts like Jamie Ortega, Katie Hoeg, Olivia Ferrucci and Tayler Warehime. Although Jenny Levy seemed somewhat displeased that Ortega didn’t receive more Tewaaraton buzz, she made sure to point out that Ortega doesn’t care about her own performances.
“She's very humble and very selfless,” Levy said. “She may get out of the game and have like seven points, and she has no clue. She's like, ‘Oh, really? Oh, great. Did we win?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah.’ I don't think she gets a lot of credit, and I thought she probably could have gotten a little bit more credit nationally with the Tewaaraton stuff, but that seems to be the trend with that award. So we'll leave it at that.”
In what could turn into a blow-for-blow boxing match against two refined offensive powerhouses, Ortega’s involvement in the offense will be a key factor. BC’s experience offense held her to just one goal on five shots in the ACC title game, so the sophomore will have to step up to earn a bid to the NCAA final.