Sign up for the latest news & updates

© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.

Maryland and Florida have played each other just three times – and the Terps are 3-0 in the series.

In 2015, the Terps won 16-6 in College Park, Md.

In 2016, they again emerged victorious 14-4, this time in the swamp.

Then in 2017, the eventual national champion downed the Gators 18-8 back on its home turf.

All Maryland victories. All by 10 goals.

Each year, the Terps advanced to the national championship, winning in 2015 and 2017, while the Gators failed to advance past the second round even with first-round byes the past two seasons as a nationally ranked team.

 

NO. 1 MARYLAND AT NO. 4 FLORIDA
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 17, 12 p.m.
WATCH: YouTube

 

Prior to the start of 2018, Florida coach Mandee O’Leary said she was done hearing the story of her team being ranked and not winning.

“It’s not, ‘The monkey is on our back because we lost the last two years,’” O’Leary said.

The Gators will be looking for their first win in the series this weekend as they again square off against Maryland.

It will be the first true test for the Terps, having dominated William & Mary 18-7 on Sunday, while Florida enters the matchup with confidence after defeating then-No. 16 Colorado 16-9 in its home opener, thanks to a strong freshman class combined with veteran leaders in Shayna and Sydney Pirreca and Lindsey Ronbeck.

Though Maryland has the assurance it needs as well. Every year, it has experienced turnover of top players with graduation, yet still manages to advance to Memorial Day weekend. It has not lost a true road game since April 5, 2014 at North Carolina.

The Terps are stacked on offense with Caroline Steele and Megan Whittle, plus the midfield, led by last year’s Big Ten Rookie of the Year Kali Hartshorn, gets a boost with Louisville transfer Meghan Siverson. Plus, the Terps boast one of the nation’s top goalies in Megan Taylor, who made a career-high 20 saves to help them beat the Gators last year.

The Maryland-Florida tilt will be a showdown you won’t want to miss.

Other games highlighting the weekend include:

  • No. 2 Stony Brook at No. 5 USC
    Friday, 10 p.m., YouTube

    USC also boasts one of the top goalies in Division I with U.S. gold medalist Gussie Johns, but can she hold off Stony Brook’s high-octane offense? The Seawolves enter their first matchup of 2018 with three 100-point scorers at their disposal in Kylie and Taryn Ohlmiller and Courtney Murphy. A win over a Top 5 team will be the fuel either team needs for a hot start to the year.

  • No. 13 Northwestern at No. 20 Duke
    Sunday, 12 p.m., ACC Network Extra

    Is Northwestern back? It may be too early to tell, but for a team that went 2-3 in its first five games the past two years, the Wildcats are rolling with three blowout victories to start 2018, won by an average of 12 goals. Last year’s best win in their first five games was by two goals to Canisius. Another Top 20 battle against Duke could shed more light on what’s in store for Northwestern this season.

  • The Ivy League, which features three ranked teams, is back in action this weekend:

    • No. 10 Princeton at Temple (Saturday, 1 p.m.)

    • Delaware at No. 14 Penn (Saturday, 3 p.m.)

    • Villanova at No. 17 Cornell (Saturday, 1 p.m.)

Games On Our Radar

All times are listed in ET. For a full list of broadcast games, please visit our US Lacrosse TV listing page, presented by Nationwide.

FRIDAY, FEB. 16

2 p.m.

Campbell at No. 20 Duke (ACC Network Extra)

4 p.m.

No. 11 North Carolina at High Point (BigSouthSports.com)

SATURDAY, FEB. 17

11 a.m.

Columbia at No. 7 Navy (Patriot League Network)

1 p.m.

No. 6 Boston College at Boston University
No. 12 Penn State at Lehigh (Patriot League Network)
Elon at No. 15 Virginia (ACC Network Extra)
No. 16 Notre Dame at Jacksonville
Dartmouth at No. 19 UMass (UMass Audio & Video/A-10 Network)
Denver at Louisville (ACC Network Extra)

3 p.m.

Georgetown at No. 9 Towson (Towson Live Stream)

SUNDAY, FEB. 18

11 a.m.

No. 16 Notre Dame at Stetson

12 p.m.

Liberty at No. 11 North Carolina (ACC Network Extra)

1 p.m.

No. 8 James Madison vs. UConn (at US Lacrosse in Sparks, Md.)

4 p.m.

No. 3 Syracuse at Oregon