COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The top-ranked Maryland women's lacrosse team kicked off the 2016 season with lacrosse media day at the XFINITY Center Friday. Head coach Cathy Reese and senior co-captain Taylor Cummings addressed the media.
Media member got their first look at the 2016 Terps, which will feature seven new starters around a core of five preseason All-Americans. Cummings returns for her final season in College Park as the two-time reigning Tewaaraton winner.
“We're really excited about this 2016 team,” Reese said. “We have a really different look this year. We return five starters off last year's team. We were in a really different spot. This year's team has been a lot of fun to coach, and there's a lot of great energy.”
Reese addressed the challenges facing the team this season, including a difficult schedule and the number of new faces who will see playing time for the Terps. Maryland faces four of the top-five ranked teams, including Final Four teams Syracuse and North Carolina.
Cummings spoke about the team's motivations after winning the last two national championships. Voted a co-captain in the offseason, Cummings will step into more of a leadership role as a senior.
“There's always pressure. We're a top-10 program who's done pretty well in the last couple years,” Cummings said. “At the same time, our coaches and our team do a really good job of putting that in the past. No one can take those championships from us; no one can take anything that we've accomplished in the past away from us.”
This year is a blank slate,” the midfielder added. “We have a group of girls and a coaching staff who are really, really excited to see how far our talent and how far our teamwork can take us. Hopefully we're standing in May with a national championship and a Big Ten trophy.”
The Terps captured the 2015 NCAA Championship with a 21-1 record, the team's second straight and 13th overall championship.
Maryland opens the season against William & Mary on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex in College Park.
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