Feb. 9, 2013

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 4 Maryland women's lacrosse team opens its 2013 campaign with a game at Richmond Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Terps topped Japan last Friday in their lone exhibition. Maryland returns nine starters from its 2012 squad which won a fourth straight ACC title and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the fourth straight season.

Richmond went 10-8 last season, finishing second in the A-10 standings. The Terps topped the Spiders 19-8 in their 2012 meeting.

Event Multimedia
· Fans can follow the game via Live Stats here. A paid internet broadcast is also available here.

Follow Maryland Women's Lacrosse on Twitter

Scouting The Terps
· Maryland opens its season at Richmond Sunday.

· The Terps will have a mix of midfielders and attackers on the attack this season and the unit will be led by senior All-American Alex Aust. Aust was tremendous down the stretch for Maryland, including an epic performance in the ACC tournament. The Sterling, Va., native was the team leader in assists (52) and points (96) and will be called upon to be the main distributor again in 2013.

· Maryland's deepest position is certainly the midfield where it returns eight players from last year's squad including all-everything Schwarzmann, who spent the majority of the offseason training with the U.S. women's national team in preparation for the 2013 FIL World Cup.

· The Maryland defense will be led by reigning IWLCA National Defender of the Year Iliana Sanza. Sanza stepped out of the shadow in her junior campaign to lead a youth-laden defense back to the final four.

· The Terps will have a large void to fill in the cage after the graduation of four-year starter Brittany Dipper. Senior Kasey Howard and redshirt sophomore Abbey Clipp will compete to fill the vacancy.

2013 Season Preview
· The Year of the Senior - 2013 Maryland Women's Lacrosse

Scouting The Spiders
· The Spiders went 10-8, 5-2 overall last season, finishing second in the A-10 standings. Richmond made its fourth-straight A-10 Championship final appearance.

· The Spiders return nine starters from last year's squad, including leading scorer and All-Conference selection Caitlin Fifield. Fifield scored 60 goals last season and recorded a team-high 80 points.

· Also returning is All-Rookie selection Emily Doyle who tallied a team-high 31 assists last season. Doyle set the single-game record for assists in a game with seven against Temple last April.

· All-Conference first team selection Sam Stevenson returns as does second-team honoree Kara Moschetti and Taylor Blazer. Stevenson scored 55 goals and had 25 assists for 80 points last season, while Moschetti recorded 29 goals and 24 ground balls in 2012.

· Maryland topped Richmond 19-8 last season.

Poll Central
· Follow the Terps and their opponents in the 2013 season via these national polls:
IWLCA/Under Armour Poll
Inside Lacrosse/deBeer Poll

Terps Capture Fourth Straight ACC Crown
· Maryland upended top-seeded North Carolina 14-10 en route to its unprecedented fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference last season.

· Katie Schwarzmann was named tournament most valuable player after capping her stellar weekend with a six-point showing against the Tar Heels.

2013 - The Year of the Senior
· Maryland boasts nine seniors in 2013.

· The class is led by returning IWLCA National Midfielder of the Year Katie Schwarzmann and IWLCA National Defender of the Year Iliana Sanza.

· Other returning senior starters include Alex Aust and Melissa Diepold.

She's BACK!
· 2012 Tewaaraton winner Katie Schwarzmann returns for her final season in College Park.

· The two-time captain hopes to lead the Terps back to the final four for a fifth straight season and bring the national championship back to College Park for the first time since her rookie season in 2010.

Terps and Team USA - A Winning Combination
· Caitlyn McFadden and Katie Schwarzmann will represent the University of Maryland as members of the 18-player Team USA roster at the 2013 FIL World Cup.

· Schwarzmann, a senior midfielder and the reigning Tewaaraton winner, is one of only two current collegiate players on the roster, joining Danielle Etrasco from Boston.

· McFadden, a former Tewaaraton winner and current assistant coach with the Terps, was a midfielder on the 2009 national team which won gold in Prague.

· Sophomore Kelly McPartland also spent extensive time with the national team this offseason.

Terps Roll Past Japan in Lone Exhibition
· Senior Alex Aust led all scorers with five goals as No. 4 Maryland topped Japan 19-8 in exhibition action last Friday at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

· Maryland's attack was very balanced with 10 goal scorers on the day. Freshman Halle Majorana tallied four goals and fellow rookie Taylor Cummings registered two goals and three draw controls.

· Fresh off a stint with the US women's national team, sophomore Kelly McPartland was the Terps' top distributor, posting four in the squad's season debut.

Defense Remains Intact
· All four starters from Maryland's stellar defense in 2012 will return this season.

· Led by reigning IWLCA National Defender of the Year Iliana Sanza, the Terps will hope to jump start one of the top offenses in the country again this season.

· Also returning is senior Melissa Diepold and sophomores Megan Douty and Shanna Brady.

Lacrosse Magazine Previews 2013 Terps
· Click here for Lacrosse Magazine's full season preview of the Terps in 2013.

· The Terps have won all five games in which they have played an opponent ranked No. 1 or 2 at home in the past five seasons. The Terps are 201-16 in College Park dating back to 1990 with 13 perfect seasons in that span.

Head Coach Cathy Reese
· A national champion as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach, Cathy Reese returns for her seventh season at the helm of the prestigious Terp program. Here are just a few of her highlights with the Terps.

Reese Notes:
• 2010 IWLCA National Coach of the Year
• 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 ACC Coach of the Year
• 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 ACC Champions
• Coached 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 ACC Player of the Year, 2009 and 2010 ACC Rookie of the Year, two Tewaaraton Award winners, five Tewaaraton finalists, 23 All-Americans, and 21 All-ACC selections
• 2006 MPSF Coach of the Year
• 2009, 2010 and 2011 IWLCA South Region Coach of the Year
• Guided Denver to school-record 16 wins in 2006
• Won eight national championships at Maryland as a player and coach (1995-2001, 2010)
• 1998 NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player

The Terps When (2013)...

Follow Maryland Athletics on Twitter

Media Information
· Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.

· GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2013 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.