COLLEGE PARK, Md. - In its second season at the varsity level, the Maryland women's water polo team showed drastic improvement under first-year head coach Carl Salyer. After not winning a single game in 2004, the Terps finished 2005 12-19 overall, and 2-8 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division.

Maryland opened the season Feb. 12-13, at the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, N.J. After losing the first two games of the tournament to Brown and Wagner, the Terps won their first game in program history, 6-4, over Marist. Seniors Elyse Corwin and Colleen McShane each scored two goals in the historic win, while senior Juli Jordan and freshman Allie Houseal had one apiece. Junior goalie Marissa Corwin had nine saves and one steal to help cement the momentous victory. The Terps fell to Bucknell to round out the Princeton Invite.

The next weekend, the Terrapins traveled to Lewisburg, Pa., for the Bucknell Invitational. In the first game of the tournament, Maryland faced a rematch with Marist, but this time the Red Foxes prevailed, 8-5. The Terps took the next two games, 9-6 over Slippery Rock and 12-6 over Penn State-Behrend. Houseal and fellow freshman Kacie Owens each recorded a hat trick in the victory over Slippery Rock, while McShane added two goals and Elyse Corwin one. Marissa Corwin registered 12 blocks and four steals in goal.

In the PSU-Behrend win, junior Allison Kuzniar and sophomore Orsi Ferenczy scored three times apiece, accounting for half of Maryland's offense. Elyse Corwin added two more goals, while senior Sarah Wahba, junior Jenna Nader and sophomore Audrey Lopez notched their first goals of the season. The Terps later fell to Michigan State to round out the Bucknell Invite.

Maryland returned to College Park the next weekend to host the Terrapin Invitational for the team's first home games of the season. The Terps lost to Bucknell, George Washington and the Naval Academy Aquatic Club.

A week later, the Terps traveled to Salem, W.Va., for the first CWPA league weekend, hosted by Salem International. Maryland fell to No. 19 Princeton before defeating Salem, 14-8, for the team's first-ever division win. Elyse Corwin scored four goals in the win, while Jordan, McShane and junior Rebecca Kadushin each notched a hat trick. Owens and Nader added one goal apiece.

Next the Terrapins headed down the beltway for a clash with regional rival George Washington. Maryland dropped a heartbreaker, losing 8-6 in overtime. The Terps were leading 5-3 at halftime, but the Colonials had tied it at 5-5 by the end of the third quarter and took a 6-5 lead with 3:16 left in regulation. Down a player due to an ejection with just 1:15 remaining, McShane got a steal and a breakaway and tied the score at 6-6 with 1:10 left in regulation. The Terps then forced an ejection with 34 seconds left but couldn't convert on the final 6-on-5 advantage, sending the game into overtime. A few small mistakes in the first extra period cost the Terps two Colonial goals, and Maryland was unable to recover. McShane scored three times in the losing effort, while Kuzniar scored twice and Jordan once. Marissa Corwin tallied 16 blocks and three steals in goal.

After a 10-day break from game action, the Terps traveled to Erie, Pa., for the Penn State-Behrend Invitational, where they finished 2-2 on the weekend. They lost to Notre Dame and Ottawa, but defeated Utica and Siena.

Owens led the Terps with four of the team's five goals in the loss to Notre Dame, before nine different players scored in the 13-3 win over Utica. Elyse Corwin led the offense with three goals, while Wahba and junior Meghan Mulhern each had two. Jordan, Ferenczy, Lopez, sophomores Kerry McFadden and Scandia DiSaverio and freshman Emily Smoak added one goal apiece. The Terps also registered 15 steals in the victory. Corwin scored six goals in the next day in Maryland's 12-5 win over Siena. McShane also notched a hat trick, while Kuzniar and Ferenczy each scored once.

Ten days later the Terps returned home for another heartbreaking loss to George Washington, 10-9. Maryland had a 5-4 advantage at halftime, but like the last game between the two teams, the Colonials had tied it up by the end of the third quarter. George Washington would take a two-goal lead with two minutes remaining, and the Terps could not recover. Jordan led the Terps scoring output with three goals.

That weekend, Maryland headed to Loudonville, N.Y., for the Siena Invitational. The top seed in the `B' bracket, the Terps defeated Queens College and Penn State-Behrend on the first day of competition. Corwin notched a hat trick in the 15-6 win over Queens and added two more in the 11-5 win over PSU-Behrend. McShane scored twice in each game. After falling to Iona, 4-3, the Terrapins defeated Mercyhurst, 10-6, to claim third place in the tournament. McShane added six more goals on the second day, including four in the victory over Mercyhurst. Corwin added another hat trick in the win.

Maryland hosted a CWPA league weekend April 8-9, and defeated Salem International, 10-5, before falling to Princeton and Bucknell. Kuzniar was the only Terp with more than one goal in the win over Salem, as she scored three times. Sophomore Cathy Popadiuk and freshman Atalie Abranovic tallied their first goals of the season.

At 10-16 overall, including 2-6 in the division, the Terps headed back to Lewisburg, Pa., for the Southern Division Championships as the fourth seed. Maryland went 2-3 on the weekend to finish fourth. Both wins came over Salem International, including an 11-0 rout on the first day of competition. Marissa Corwin recorded her first shutout as a Terrapin, and Jordan registered two goals, three steals and an assist to lead the Terps' offense.

Maryland made its debut in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll on March 16, tying for 10th with Washington and Jefferson College. The Terrapins moved up to ninth the next week before finishing the season at No. 10.

Elyse Corwin, the team captain, led the Terps with 47 goals on the season and was always among the nation's leaders in offense. McShane was second on the team with 41 goals, followed by Jordan (30), Owens (18), Kuzniar (17) and Houseal (15). McShane led the Terps with 43 steals, followed by Jordan (38) and Houseal (25). Kuzniar led the Terps with 16 assists, followed by Jordan (15) and McShane (13). Marissa Corwin finished the year with 196 blocks while allowing 204 goals. She was among the nation's leaders in saves all season.

"It was a great season," Salyer said. "The girls have come a long way. We had some fun and learned a lot of water polo. It was a great first season for me. I'm very happy with the progress the girls have made all year."