Women's Lacrosse Takes On Pair Of Ivy League Teams In The Next Week
3/13/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 13, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
-- The University of Maryland women's lacrosse team will look to build on a strong start to its 2003 campaign as it will take on a pair of Ivy League teams in its next two games. On Saturday, March 15, the Terrapins will square off with Brown University at 1:00 p.m. in their first game of the year at Ludwig Field. On Tuesday the 18th, the Terps will hit the road for the second time this season as they will take on Dartmouth College -- which is currently ranked 14th nationally -- in Hanover, N.H.
-- The contests will mark somewhat of a departure for the Terps. Brown will mark Maryland's first unranked opponent of the '03 season while Dartmouth -- unless it moves up four spots in next week's poll -- will be just one of three opponents this season (Brown included) to reside out of the nation's Top 10.
-- Maryland (5-0, 3-0 ACC) is ranked third in the latest IWLCA poll after moving up a spot after its wins over Duke and Syracuse. The Terps have already accomplished one milestone this season as they wrapped up the Atlantic Coast Conference's regular season title with their convincing 11-8 win at No. 8 Virginia on Tuesday.
-- Brown will head to College Park with an 0-1 record after falling, 11-10, in its season opener to Northwestern. Like Maryland, the Bears have had difficulties with the weather and had to postpone their only other scheduled game (vs. Notre Dame on March 9).
-- Dartmouth won its first game of the season and will take on Massachussetts before squaring off with the Terrapins. In their first game of the young season, the Big Green beat New Hampshire, 18-4. The Maryland game will mark the end of a three-game homestand to start the season for Dartmouth before it heads on the road for its next four contests.
Back On Top
-- With its win over Virginia on March 11, Maryland completed the biggest turnaround it has had to since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1997.
-- The Terrapins' impressive 11-8 win over the Cavaliers ended their ACC regular season and they did so without a blemish. After finishing last in the league with an 0-3 record a year ago, Maryland will now claim the ACC regular season title, the top seed in April's conference tournament and a perfect conference record for the fourth time in its history.
-- Oddly enough, since 1997, the Terps have finished with a perfect regular season ACC record in each of its odd-numbered seasons. In 1997, 1999, 2001 and now 2003, the Terrapins own a 12-0 league mark, while in '98, 2000 and 2002, the team stands at 3-6. In addition, Maryland's record in those odd seasons has been astounding as it now owns a 70-1 mark in odd years since '97.
Head Coach Cindy Timchal
-- Head coach Cindy Timchal is in her 13th season at the helm of the Maryland women's lacrosse program. In her 12-plus years, she has established one of the most dominant teams in all of collegiate athletics as the Terrapins are 208-22 (.904) under her guidance, have earned 12 NCAA Tournament bids and have taken the crown eight times.
-- Timchal is one of the winningest coaches in the history of women's collegiate lacrosse. With the Terps' win over Princeton in the semifinals of the 2001 NCAA tournament, she tied the record of William Smith's Pat Genovese, who led all coaches with 267 wins. Despite a sub-par 2002 by Timchal's standards, she entered 2003 tied with Genovese on the all-time wins list with 279 while she is also in the all-time top five in games coached and winning percentage.
-- 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 players to All-American status 61 times in her career.
-- 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 but one since coming to Maryland, reaching the title game an unbelievable 11 of the last 13 years.
-- Now in her 22nd 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 284-62 (.821).
-- Timchal is assisted by a pair of her most successful proteges, Cathy Nelson and Jen Adams. Nelson is now the veteran of Terp assistants as she enters her fifth year. She is joined by Adams who is in her first season as a full-time coach after spending a year as an undergraduate assistant. From Nelson's freshman year in 1995 to Adams' senior season in 2001, the duo were a part of each of Maryland's seven-straight national championship seasons.
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 1999 NCAA Champions 21-0 2000 NCAA Champions 21-1 2001 NCAA Champions 23-0 2002 NCAA Quarterfinalists 11-10 2003 5-0 12+ Seasons @ Md. 208-22 (.904)
Scoring Streaks
-- Senior attacker/midfielder Sonia Judd carries the Terps' longest scoring streak as she has now posted at least one point in each of the past 22 games.
-- Other notable streaks in tact from last season include: Annie Collins (8), and Kelly Coppedge (8).
Judd Hits Century Mark
-- Native Australian Sonia Judd has gotten off to a strong start this season, ranking second on the team in scoring with 18 points (nine goals, nine assists). In addition to earning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week honors in week one, Judd surpassed the 100-point plateau for her career in Maryland's 10-8 win over UNC.
-- Judd entered this week fourth the ACC in points per game (4.25 avg.) and first in assists (2.0 avg.) while ranking seventh in goals per game with 2.25.
Coppedge A Tewaaraton Nominee
-- It was announced last week that Kelly Coppedge has been nominated on the initial list of Tewaaraton Trophy nominees, an award which recognizes the top male and female in collegiate lacrosse.
-- Coppedge, a senior from Annapolis, is the leading returning scorer on this year's Terrapin team as well as its lone returning All-American. She currently leads the Terrapins in scoring with 22 points (she is third in the ACC) and is coming off of her best game of the season, a five-goal performance at UVa.
Shooting Stars
-- As a team, the Terps have a solid .446 shooting percentage this season, but that pales in comparison to several of the team's top scorers.
-- Three of Maryland's top six scorers this season own over a .500 shooting percentage. That group includes leading scorer Kelly Coppedge (.545), Sonia Judd (.500) and Jessica Dorney (.556).
-- Notably, Coppedge has found the net 18 times on just 33 shots while Dorney's average came up after the UVa game when she scored on all three shots she took.
Captains
-- The captains of this year's Maryland team are seniors Sonia Judd, Julie Shank and Alexis Venechanos. The trio were chosen after a vote was conducted by their teammates as representatives of this year's squad.
Local Ties
-- Brown has six players who call the state of Maryland home. That group includes Meredith Goodell (Baltimore), Katie Zabel (Ellicott City), Randi Macdonald (Baltimore), Sarah Passano (Baltimore), Laura Tilghman (Bethesda) and Ashley McDowell (Bethesda). In addition, the Bears' head coach, Theresa Ingram, is a 1994 graduate of Maryland and a former Terp Academic All-American.
-- The Big Green also has its fair share of athletes from the Old Line State. The seven who call Maryland home are Sarah Sanborn (Owings Mills), Lana Smith (Annapolis), Andrea Smith (Annapolis), Whitney Jamison (Baltimore), Casey Hazel (Reisterstown), Kelly Roy (Sykesville) and Kate Killen (Baldwin). Like Brown, Dartmouth's mentor is also a Maryland grad (1988) in former All-American Amy Patton.
-- The Terps have no players from either Rhode Island or New Hampshire.
Scouting the Bears
-- Head coach Theresa Brown is in her fourth season at the helm of the Brown women's lacrosse program. Brown 1994 graduate of Maryland and in her time in Providence, she has compiled an 18-25 record.
-- Brown is 0-1 after dropping a tough 11-10 season opener to Northwestern. In the defeat, junior Laurel Pierpont led the way in scoring with four points while Julia Southard made nine saves in her first collegiate start.
-- The Bears returned nine starters from last year's team including its top 10 scorers. Christine Anneberg led the way a year ago with 41 points (31 goals, 10 assist) while Bekah Rottenberg also posted 28 goals.
-- Brown's biggest loss from a year ago was goalie Niki Caggiano, a netminder who posted a solid .584 save percentage in 14 starts.
-- Series record: Maryland is 9-0 all-time versus Brown. Last season, the Terps won 19-8 at Providence and the biggest scare the Bears have put on Maryland came in 1999 when the margin of victory was five.
Scouting the Big Green
-- The Dartmouth College women's lacrosse team is led by Amy Patton, who is in her 11th season with the Big Green. Under the former Maryland All-American's guidance, Dartmouth has posted (as of Mar. 14) a 112-44 record.
-- The Big Green opened their season with an 18-4 home win over the University of New Hampshire. Like the Terps' season opening win over George Mason, Dartmouth struck early and often, finding the net five times in the game's first nine minutes. Whitney Jamison led the way in scoring with three goals and four assists.
-- The Big Green went 10-6 a year ago and placed fourth in the Ivy League with a 4-3 mark. They return just six starters from last year's squad.
-- Jamison is the team's leading returning scorer as she posted 37 points a year ago.
-- In addition to Dartmouth's leading scorers graduating (Jen Newitt, Allison Moulin), the team also lost goalie Sarah Hughes. Like Brown, Dartmouth has a freshman starting in goal in Devon Wills, who made seven saves while allowing just three goals in her debut.
-- Series record: Maryland has won all 10 previous meetings with Dartmouth.
