COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Led by junior midfielder Zoe Stukenberg's five points, the No. 1 Maryland women's lacrosse team (2-0) dominated Georgetown (0-2) in an 18-8 win Saturday afternoon at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
“I was really proud of our team's effort,” head coach Cathy Reese said. “We saw a lot of effort and good things from this group, but in the second half, we saw some things we need to work on. We focused all week on things like draw controls and ground balls, and I thought we did a really good job in those areas.”
Stukenberg scored a hat trick and dished out two assists. Sophomore attacker Megan Whittle scored four goals while freshman midfielder Caroline Steele had three. Senior midfielder Taylor Cummings finished with four points (1G, 3A) and Bryn Boucher, Taylor Hensh and Kacie Longo each scored twice.
The Terps tallied 12 straight goals in the first 19 minutes of the game, led by three from Stukenberg. Boucher scored just 53 seconds into the game. Whittle and Cummings finished the first-half scoring as Maryland took a 14-2 lead into halftime.
After Whittle and Steele notched goals in the second half, the Hoyas scored five straight to bring the game to 16-8. Longo and Whittle tallied the final goals of the game to give the Terps the 18-8 victory.
Cummings also picked up six draw controls and caused two turnovers. Senior defender Alice Mercer notched four draw controls and Steele finished with four ground balls.
All three goalies saw action for Maryland. Freshman Megan Taylor earned her first career start and allowed one goal while picking up one ground ball in 23 minutes. Junior Emily Kift made two saves and earned one ground ball and sophomore Emma Moss made two saves.
The Terps travel to Chapel Hill to face off against No. 2 North Carolina (3-1) next Saturday. Opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. in a rematch of the 2015 NCAA Championship finals. UNC suffered its first loss of the season to No. 8 Florida earlier Saturday afternoon.
-Maryland-
