No. 7 Maryland women’s lacrosse visits No. 3 Northwestern in weekend series
(Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.)
The Terps (5-i B1G) will head to Evanston this weekend to face the Wildcats (vii-0) in a two-game series that features the tiptop ii teams in the Big 10.
This is the first time this season that Maryland has gone on the route for a weekend series and it will be confronting the toughest opponent they've seen so far this flavour.
"This game, no matter who is ranked higher, is ever a tough one," head omnibus Cathy Reese said on Wednesday. "Our two teams are very familiar with each other, both have had extreme success. We accept a lot of respect for each other and we honey the competition."
The two teams met three times in 2019, with Maryland taking two victories, including one in the Final Iv.
Northwestern has not browbeaten Maryland in the Big Ten regular flavor since the Terps entered the conference in 2014, just the Wildcats enter this weekend every bit the higher ranked team.
The Wildcats boast the highest scoring offense in the state, led by junior attacker Izzy Scane (42 goals) and senior attacker Lauren Gilbert (35 goals) who are commencement and third respectively in the nation in goals per game.
The Wildcats have scored over 20 goals iv times this flavour, something that Maryland hasn't yet done this season. While Reese was not shy to admit Northwestern would be a challenge to defend, she continued to emphasize the importance of her team focusing on their own game.
"There'south no easy solution to containing this offense," Reese said. "Where nosotros are at this signal in the season, we need to continue to grow defensively equally a unit. Our best teams at Maryland take been because our unit is strong, not because we've been successful on one or two people."
That defensive unit of measurement is led past senior defender Lizzie Colson who took home Big Ten Defender of the Week and IWLCA National Defensive Histrion of the Week. Colson too leads the nation in caused turnovers and has been the leader on a defense that contains more often than not underclassmen.
The young Terps defense has been steadily improving as the season has progressed and while they accept yet to face an offense as stiff as Northwestern, they remain confident in their preparation.
"We've really just been preparing for everyone and focusing a lot on our side of the game," Colson said. "Nosotros have such a stiff defensive line and we're super confident in each other. We've been working actually difficult these past few weeks and Emily Sterling is crushing it back there so we're all feeling good heading into this weekend."
Sophomore goalie Emily Sterling did indeed "trounce it" final Sat against Ohio State, allowing just five Buckeye goals on 17 shots. Another performance like that would give Maryland a really good run a risk of coming out of this series with two wins.
While Maryland's defense has been improving, their offense has been a strength all year. The Terps are led by sophomore attacker Hannah Leubecker who has 28 goals on the season and is seventh in the nation in goals per game.
Against Ohio State, Maryland dominated possession throughout the game but just managed to push 11 shots by the goalkeeper. To keep footstep with Northwestern, the Terps will need to improve on their shooting percentage, something that has frustrated Reese all season.
If Maryland tin can do that and get another potent try from Sterling, they will exist in good shape to wing home to College Park in first identify in the Large Ten.
Saturday's game volition brainstorm at apex on BTN Plus and Mon'southward game will outset at one:00 and air on BTN Network.
Source: http://wmucsports.net/no-7-maryland-womens-lacrosse-visits-no-3-northwestern-in-weekend-series/
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