SEASON RECAP: Maryland posted their 11th straight winning season (18-4) and earned their third consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Terps advanced to the second round of the tournament before losing to Princeton 4-0. The Terps were ranked in the top five the entire season. The final poll of the year (November 4) had Maryland ranked fourth in the nation. 1997 was a record-setting season for the Terps, as they scored 98 goals. That breaks the old mark of 67 goals which was set by the 1987 team.

DEBOW NOMINATED FOR BRODERICK AWARD: Senior midfielder Christine DeBow (West Chester, Pa.) was nominated for the Broderick Award, which is given to the most outstanding NCAA field hockey player of the year. DeBow ended her career at Maryland with her third appearance on the All-America first team and her fourth appearance on the All-ACC team. She ranks sixth on Maryland's all-time lists in goals (42) and assists (27).

THREE-PEAT: For the third consecutive season, senior forward Lynsey McVicker (Balleymoney, Northern Ireland) led the Terps in total points. With 18 goals and 23 assists, McVicker tallied a career-best 59 points this season. She finished her career at Maryland with 52 goals and 50 assists for 156 total points.

LEADER OF THE PACK: With 33 assists, junior midfielder Jen Pratt (Greene, N.Y.) finished the season ranked first in the nation in that statistical category. She not only broke the Terps' single-season assist record, but also became the school's all-time assist leader (she currently has 53 career assists).

SCORING STREAK: Senior forward Nadine Bennett (Chegutu, Zimbabwe) scored at least one goal in 11 consecutive games during the 1997 season. That shatters the school record for the most consecutive games with at least one goal (the old mark was six games). Bennett finished the season with 24 goals, which is the second-highest single-season total in school history (28 is the current record, set by former Terp Lisa Buente in 1990).

FRESHMAN SENSATION: It didn't take long for heralded freshman Carla Tagliente (Cortland, N.Y.) to make an impact on the college level. In her first season at Maryland, she scored 19 goals, which is the highest total any Terp has scored during their freshman season. In addition, she was named the ACC co-Player of the Week twice during the season (September 14-20 & October 13-19) as well as the ACC Rookie of the Year. She closed out her season by becoming the first Maryland freshman ever to be named All-America (she was named to the third team).

OTHER FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT: Tagliente was not the only freshman who bolstered the Terps this season. Midfielder Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) scored seven goals and was named to the Mideast Region All-America team and back Marloes Platzek (Delft, The Netherlands) scored 12 goals and tallied 13 assists.

THREE TERPS ON U.S. NATIONAL TEAM: DeBow, Tagliente and senior Carolyn Schwarz (Gaithersburg, Md.) were selected to play on the U.S. National field hockey team, which will compete in this year's World Cup (to be held in the Netherlands in May). In addition, Smith was selected to the U.S. Under-23 team and freshman Molly Kauffman (Reading, Pa.) was selected to the U.S. Under-19 team.