In the days and months following the 2008 season, Maryland head coach Brian Pensky had some decisions to make.

The Terps were coming off a tough season, but a couple of the bright spots were the play and immediate production of freshman forward Lydia Hastings, who led the team in points and was second in goals and assists.  It looked like Maryland had found the finisher it had looked for for so long.

But Pensky knew if his team was going to take the next step, he was going to have to make some changes and one of those involved Hastings.

"Well, two things were behind moving Lydia from up-top to out-wide," says Pensky. "We changed our system from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2.  So Lydia went from being a winger in the three-font to a wide midfielder in the 4-4-2. We like her in this role because it allows her to receive the ball faced up, and therefore be able to run at players 1v1, which is one of her greatest strengths."

Hastings never hesitated or fought the move. A team-first student-athlete, she accepted her new role with the same passion and intensity she displayed during her freshman season.

"Brian asked me to play outside mid during one of our preseason matches last season and I loved it," she remembers. "I had space to run at players, opportunities to cross and finish the ball, and be involved offensively and defensively."

But the move, wasn't as easy as it seemed at the beginning.

"After a few games I realized it would take a bit of getting used to because the differences between forward and outside mid are more than I thought," says Hastings. "As a wide midfielder I can literally see the whole field all the time, from our goal to the opponents goal. Thar gave me a new look at how the flow of each game works, and where the open spaces to attack are. It was just going to take some time to get used to playing from that perspective."

During the spring season, Hastings worked to build a rapport with teammates and learn the nuances of her new position. One thing she didn't have to worry about was the increased fitness demands of playing in the midfield.

"She's the kind of kid that we classify as a pro," says Pensky. "She loves the game. She takes herself, and her soccer, very seriously. Her training habits are terrific, and she puts in the extra work on her own to refine her functional skills - 1v1 dribbling, crossing and finishing. And she's really embraced the strength and conditioning regimen that our strength coach Barry Kagan has put together. Lydia's improved strength has helped her ability to hold off defenders, and the lifting has also improved her explosiveness and speed."

Entering the 2009 season Pensky and Hastings were both excited about the move and the potential of what Hastings might do with more space and moving forward toward the goal from the midfield.

"In addition to being a good dribbler, Lydia has really worked on her crosses," says Pensky. "We always knew that she could create the space for herself and get a quality serve in, and she did that for us on a very consistent basis last year."

While 2009 proved to be a magical season for the Terps as a whole - a 14-6-2 record, earning a NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2004 with a No. 4 ranking in its region and advancing to the Sweet 16. But, it was also a struggle for Hastings individually.

After leading the team in scoring as a freshman, including scoring the game-winning goal in the team's 1-0 season-ending victory over NC State, Hastings went through the 2009 season without finding the back of the net even once. She did tally five assists, but for a finisher like Hastings, the lack of goal scoring was a bit troubling.

"Of course I was frustrated and at first I was upset with myself for not scoring goals," says Hastings. "But after our team kept improving and winning big games last season, I realized that I could help the team in other ways then scoring. I was able to contribute with not only assists, but by working hard on both sides of the ball. There's so much more to a soccer match than scoring goals."

"I was never concerned and never thought about changing her back to forward," says Pensky. "I'm sure Lydia was concerned. She's a very bright kid and has very high expectations for herself athletically and academically. So there were times last year when she was beating herself up about the lack of goal production. But we, her coaches, were never concerned. We knew eventually the dam would break."

The 2010 season offered Hastings a fresh start, and it didn't take long for her to wipe away the taste of her scoreless 2009 campaign.

With the Terps already out to a 2-0 lead over Iona in the 2010 season-opener, Hastings' snapped her 22-game scoreless streak by putting back a rebound off a shot by Ashley Grove that bounced off the goalkeeper's hands.

"That was a huge relief for Lydia" says Pensky. "For her to get that monkey off her back and be able to just focus on playing soccer and playing well was huge. It was important for her to know that the goals and assists would come; and they have."

From then on it looked as if the burden of Atlas was lifted off of Hastings' shoulders and she was able to just go on the field and play her game.

"I heard that a lot," says Hastings. "But it felt great, kind of like a weight was lifted off my shoulders; one that I had put there in the first place. But, after that I was finally able to fully relax and play the game."

With the scoring slump over, Hastings, who also had two assists vs. Iona, would go on to score again against Tennessee in the third game of the season and add an assist in the win over Delaware. But her finest moment of the 2010 season came on a rain-soaked evening at Ludwig Field vs. ACC-rival Virginia.

Pensky has stressed over and over how important it is to get off to a good start in matches. But for three straight matches at the end of September, Maryland gave up early goals to Delaware, George Mason and Duke and had to play catch-up. A fast start vs. the Cavaliers was essential, and Pensky needed someone to step up and make something happen early.

Just three minutes into the match a seemingly harmless ball was sent from the Maryland backline down the right sideline. A Cavalier defender collected it and expected to have time to clear the ball back up the field. Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer had other ideas, stealing the ball and advancing it up the right side.

Spencer was able to create some space and get off a good cross, sending the ball to the top of the Virginia 18-yard box. It passed through a couple of Terrapins and Cavaliers and looked like it was going to skip completely through the area untouched until a blur in white, the only distinguishable characteristics being a flowing ponytail and white shoes, came from nowhere to blister a one-timer into the left side of the Cavalier goal, giving the Terps an early 1-0 lead.

"It felt great to score early," says Hastings, "because that is always one of our goals as a team, and to do it against Virginia, which is always a big rival for us, was definitely a plus."

Maryland went on to win the game 3-2, but Hastings' goal gave the Terps momentum and confidence against an opponent that the program has had perpetual struggles against.

"Lydia's goal vs. Virginia was terrific, on all fronts," remembers Pensky. "What a great goal. That was a top-level finish in a big game, right off the bat. It was an injection of confidence for both Lydia and our entire group."

The Terps are currently sitting at 12-1-1 on the season and have already tied the school record for most conference wins in a season at four with four ACC matches left to play. But, despite the near unprecedented success of this season, Hastings continues to use her 2009 season as a means of motivation.

"I've always been one to kind of take something that has happened to me, whether good or bad, and not forget about it, but keep it in the back of my mind," says Hastings. "Yes, I have learned that not scoring last season, and learning new ways to help our team win, has helped me move on and hopefully improve as a player.

"But at the same time, I did not think my performance overall last season was up to my standards, scoring goals or not. So throughout the spring and summer I always had that in the back of my mind. It helped me train harder and have the mentality that I needed to prove that I can play, not only up to the standards of my team, but also to my own standards.

"I knew that I could play better and with more intensity. Before this season, Brian asked us to come up with two or three personal goals and none of my goals included stats or points. One of my goals was simply to have a good touch on the ball all the time and another was to be a vocal leader on the field.

"I knew if I played hard the stats would work themselves out. But in the end, only one stat really matters and that's wins. We're doing pretty well in that right now and I'm going to continue to do everything I can to keep that going."