Women's Lacrosse Game Notes
3/6/2002 7:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 6, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
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Terrapins Look to Regroup at Syracuse
- The University of Maryland women's lacrosse team will look to return to its winning ways in the next week as it will head to Syracuse this weekend before playing its final regular season Atlantic Coast Conference game at home against Virginia on Tuesday, March 12.
- The Terrapins opened their 29th season of lacrosse with a pair of tough losses at Tobacco Road last weekend. Maryland opened the weekend and the season with a hard-fought, controversial 9-8 loss at Duke before falling, 13-11, to North Carolina on Sunday.
- The loss to Duke marked the team's first since March 5, 2000, a span of 43 games in which the Terps went unbeaten. With the 0-2 start, Maryland has now lost just three times in its last 75 outings and the consecutive losses mark the first time that has happened since the start of the 1998 season. In '98, the Terrapins opened up with a pair of losses at Duke and North Carolina before rolling to an 18-3 season and, ultimately, what was then their fourth-straight national championship.
- Maryland entered 2002 as the seven-time defending national champion and the winningest team in the history of women's lacrosse. The Terps were a perfect 23-0 a year ago, winning the ACC and national title in the process while winning more games than any team ever in a single season.
- The Terrapins' next two opponents each share a recent history. Syracuse and Virginia squared off on March 2 with the Orangewomen coming away with a 12-10 win, their first ever against the Cavaliers. Syracuse has opened the season 2-0 after opening with a win at Stanford before the impressive win in Charlottesville. Virginia entered this week 1-1 (the Cavs opened 2002 with a 19-3 victory over William & Mary).
In the Rankings
- After its opening weekend, Maryland dropped from first to No. 5 in the latest IWLCA rankings. The drop from the top spot ends an impressive reign for the Terps at the top of the polls.
- With this week's number five ranking, the Terrapins string of 33 consecutive weeks (including this year's preseason poll) in the top spot is broken. The string began at the end of the 1998 season, when Maryland captured its fourth straight title in its current run of seven.
- On the heels of its impressive opening week, Syracuse moves to No. 7 in the latest poll. The Orangewomen were ranked 10th in the preseason by the IWLCA. Virginia fell one spot in the latest poll to eighth.
Maryland Coach Cindy Timchal
- Head coach Cindy Timchal is in her 12th season at the helm of the Maryland women's lacrosse program in 2001. In her 11-plus years, she has established one of the most dominant teams in all of collegiate athletics as the Terrapins are 192-14 (.932) under her guidance, have earned 11 NCAA Tournament bids and have taken the crown eight times.
- With the Terps' win in the 2001 title game, Timchal became the winningest coach in the history of women's collegiate lacrosse. With the Terrapins' win over Princeton in the semifinals, she tied the record of William Smith's Pat Genovese, who led all coaches with 267 wins. With Maryland's win in the title game, Timchal moved to 268 wins for her career.
- Timchal was selected as the '01 ACC Coach of the Year, her third time earning the honor. She has been chosen as National Coach of the Year twice and has coached 36 Terrapins to All-American status.
- From the time of her arrival, Timchal has lost no more than three games in any one season, including a spectacular 21-0 season in 1999 and last year's 23-0 mark. She has led the Terps to the Final Four every year since coming to Maryland, reaching the title game an unbelievable 11 of the last 12 years.
- Now in her 21st season of coaching collegiate athletics overall, Timchal got her start at Northwestern where she led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament five times in nine years. Her overall record (Maryland and Northwestern) currently stands at 268-54 (.832).
- Timchal is assisted by Gary Gait and Cathy Nelson. Gait is one of the most innovative minds in all of lacrosse coaching and widely held as one of the sports greatest players of all time. A 1991 graduate of Syracuse and three-time All-American, he still plays professionally and on the World Cup circuit. Nelson was an outstanding player in her own right as she was a two-time All-American at Maryland and the tournament MVP in the Terps' run to the 1998 national title.
Timchal's Year-by-Year at Maryland 1991 NCAA Runners-up 14-3 1992 NCAA Champions 14-1 1993 NCAA Semifinalists 12-2 1994 NCAA Runners-Up 13-1 1995 NCAA Champions 17-0 1996 NCAA Champions 19-0 1997 NCAA Champions 21-1 1998 NCAA Champions 18-3 1990 NCAA Champions 21-0 2000 NCAA Champions 21-1 2001 NCAA Champions 23-0 2002 0-2 11+ Seasons @ Md. 192-14 (.932)
Non-Conference Success
- Maryland will look to improve on its success -- which is astounding -- against non-conference foes over the last four-plus years in this weekend's matchup at Syracuse.
- The Terps enter the weekend having won 72-straight games against non-ACC competition. The last loss to a non-ACC foe was to Loyola in 1997.
- This year's group of seniors has run up a 50-0 record in their tenure versus non-conference competition. The 2001 graduating class never lost to a non-conference opponent in their four years.
New Look Terps
- After losing eight starters to graduation from last year's NCAA championship team, pundits knew that Maryland would have some fresh faces in the lineup. A look at the opening weekend's lineup would suggest that the Terps' season-opening performance (a one-goal and a two-goal loss on the road to Top 5 opponents) could actually be a source of optimism as the year progresses.
- In the opening weekend, Maryland had seven players (Collins, Dorney, Leggio, McLeod, Sommers, Walker, Warren) play the first collegiate lacrosse games of their careers. Of those seven, three (Leggio, Sommers, Walker) were in the starting lineup.
Scoring Streaks
- Recently departed All-Americans Jen Adams and Quinn Carney finished their careers with amazing scoring streaks, streaks that lasted almost the length of their collegiate careers. Adams scored in each of her last 78 games as a Terp while Carney finished her career with a 73-game streak.
- This season, All-American candidate Courtney Hobbs carries the longest streak into the season as she has scored at least a point in each of the last 29 games. Her last game without a point came against Loyola on April 29, 2000.
- Due to the loss of many key players from last year's team, only two other players have a current streak of more than two games in tact. Both Kelly Coppedge and Sonia Judd scored in the two championship games of a year ago as well as the first two games of 2002, leaving them with a four-game streak.
Hobbs Up for the Tewaaraton
- Prior to the 2002 season, 12 nominees were named for this year's Tewaaraton Trophy, an award which recognizes each the best male and female in collegiate lacrosse. The first annual award was presented a year ago to Maryland's Jen Adams. This season, the Terrapins are hoping to have another native Australian capture the award as senior Courtney Hobbs was named one of the 12 nominees.
- Hobbs, a senior from West Lakes, South Australia, is the leading returning scorer on this year's Terrapin team. Hobbs will be a featured player in the offensive attack and should post career numbers with more touches this season.
World Cup Terps
- The 2001 International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations' World Cup was played in High Wycombe, England, but that didn't stop the event from having a distinctive Maryland stamp.
- At the championships, which were won by the United States, a total of 14 former and current Terrapin lacrosse players represented their respective countries. The U.S. team featured eight Terps among its 16 players including Kelly Amonte-Hiller (1996), Erin Brown (1990), Quinn Carney (2001), Randall Flynn (1997), Christie Jenkins (2000), Kristin Sommar (2000), Michele Uhlfelder (1991) and Jess Wilk (1990). In addition, five members of the Australian national team can claim they played at Maryland. Among them were current Terp Courtney Hobbs and former players Jen Adams (2001), Trish Adams, Sarah Forbes (1997) and Sascha Newmarch (1998). Finally, the newest member of this year's team, Laura Warren, was a starting attacker for the Welsh team.
10th Anniversary for Timchal
- Last year marked the 20-year anniversary of Maryland's first-ever national championship, the AIAW title of 1981. (The AIAW was the forerunner to the NCAA for competition in women's collegiate athletics). This season marks another milestone, especially for head coach Cindy Timchal, as the 2002 season marks the 10-year anniversary of the Terps' first national title under Timchal.
- The 1992 Terrapins went 14-1 and started a run of championships that is nearly unparalleled in sports. Since the NCAA win in '92, Maryland has run off eight championships in 10 years, missing only in the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
- Maryland has won the national championship in eight-of-11 of Timchal's years at the helm and finished worse than second only once (NCAA semifinalists in 1993).
Captains
- The captains of this year's Maryland team are seniors Meredith Egan and Courtney Hobbs. The pair were chosen after a vote was conducted by their teammates as representatives of this year's squad.
Local Ties
- The Terps have six players who call the state of New York home. Cara Gorman (Amsterdam), Kristie Leggio (Bay Shore), Molly Lambert (Brightwaters), Jenny Marmion (East Aurora), Annie Howley (Wantagh) and Alexis Venechanos (Yorktown) are all from the Empire State.
- Syracuse has three of players from Maryland as Fran Amasia is from Fallston, Monica Joines is from White Hall and Kristen Sloan is from Cockeysville. Midfielder Carrie Soults is from Washington, D.C.
- Virginia boasts 12 players who are natives of the Old Line State. That total -- which includes standouts Lauren Aumiller, Cary Chasney and Molly Cangemi -- accounts for nearly 50 percent (48%) of the Cavaliers' roster.
Scouting the Orangewomen
- Head coach Lisa Miller is in her fifth season at the helm of the Syracuse women's lacrosse program. In her four-plus years, she has posted a record of 45-17 and has led the team to two NCAA tournament appearances in the process.
- Maryland is 4-0 against Syracuse with the average outcome being 19-8 in the Terps' favor. The closest call in the series came last year when the margin was four (11-7).
- Syracuse returned four starters from last year's team which went 10-5 and earned a berth in the NCAA tourney. A total of 18 letterwinners also returned from a year ago.
- The Orangewomen have been impressive in their two games to date (through March 6). They took care of an up-and-coming Stanford team (whose assistant coach is former Terp Quinn Carney), 15-9, before disposing of the then No. 8 Cavaliers, 12-10.
- SU has been led this season in scoring by junior Kim Wayne who has posted 10 points in two games. The top goal scorer has been D.C.-native Carrie Soults (Georgetown Day) who has posted seven goals with no assists.
- Junior Carla Gigon has been solid in goal, going the distance in both games while saving 22 shots and allowing just 19 goals for a .537 save percentage.
Scouting the 'Hoos
- The University of Virginia women's lacrosse team is led by Julie Myers (Virginia, '90), who is in her sixth season with the Cavaliers. Under her guidance, UVa has posted (as of March 6) an impressive 85-32 record.
- The Maryland/Virginia rivalry is one of the more storied of all of the all-time series of Terp opponents. The Terps own a 26-7 lead in the series which began in 1978 and the last Terrapin loss in the series came in 1993, a 11-9 loss at Charlottesville.
- Virginia returns nine starters from last year's team which finished with a 11-7 record.
- Lauren Aumiller is the 'Hoos' top returnee from a year ago. A 2001 All-American in the midfield, Aumiller is the team's leading scorer with 12 points after two games. Caitlin Banks, '01 ACC Rookie of the Year, also returns and is tied for second in scoring this year with seven points.
- Andrea Pfeiffer is the Cavaliers' likely scorer in the pipes. Through two games, her save percentage is .420 after allowing 21 goals and making 15 saves. Liz McCarthy is also a possibility as she has actually played more minutes (1017) in her career than Pfeiffer (217).
Seventh Heaven
- Last year's NCAA Tournament signified Maryland's successful run at a seventh straight NCAA title and the school's 10th national championship overall. The Terrapins' current streak of championships began in 1995 and their overall list of titles includes the 1981 (AIAW), '86 and '92 seasons as well.
- The Terrapins seven consecutive titles is the longest string of any Division I women's team in the nation. Their seventh title matched the feat of John Wooden's UCLA Bruins from 1967-73. The longest current Division I streak is held by the Arkansas men's track team which has run off 12 consecutive NCAA Championships.
- The Terps' trip to last year's Final Four was their 12th-in-a-row. In addition, they have now played in the championship game 11 out of the last 12 years.
- Starting defender Megan Kelly has four NCAA championships and six ACC championships under her belt in her three-year career as a Terp. The Maryland native moonlights on the Terrapin field hockey team that won the 1998, '99 and 2001 ACC championships and was crowned the 1999 NCAA champions. Kelly was also part of the Terp squad that won the 1999, 2000 and 2001 NCAA women's lacrosse championships, as well as the 1999, 2000 and 2001 ACC women's lacrosse championships.
2001 Perfection
- With their season-ending wins at Dartmouth and Harvard, the Terrapins finished the 2001 regular season undefeated, marking just the sixth time in school history that a UM team finished its regular season without a blemish. In addition to the '95, '96 and '99 teams, the 1980 and 1994 teams went undefeated before losing the final games of their respective seasons. The 1984 team went without a loss in the regular season, but had a tie along the way before losing in the NCAA finals.
- After running the table in the NCAA Tournament, the Terps successfully nailed down their second undefeated season (including the NCAAs) in the last three years. That feat was accomplished for just the fourth time in school history joining the teams from 1995, 1996 and 1999.
