THE MATCHUP
Wednesday, Apri 3 -- at #8 Virginia
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The second-ranked Maryland women's lacrosse team will play their first of two top ten opponents this week and sixth of the season as the Terps travel to Charlottesville to face No. 8 Virginia on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. This game will air on ACC Network Extra.
HOW WE GOT HERE
• A season-best 13 different players scored goals as the No. 2 Maryland women's lacrosse team routed Rutgers, 20-3 on Saturday afternoon. Junior Brindi Griffin led Maryland, tying a career-high with four goals to lead the way for the 13 different goal scorers.
• Five points apiece from senior Jen Giles and junior Kali Hartshorn, and 14 saves on a .667 percentage from senior Megan Taylor led the No. 2 Maryland women's lacrosse team (11-0) to a convincing 15-7 win over No. 14 Princeton last Wednesday night.
Led by six points apiece from senior Jen Giles (four goals, two assists) and junior Kali Hartshorn (three goals, three assists), the No. 2 Maryland women's lacrosse team (10-0, 2-0 B1G) trounced No. 7 James Madison 18-5 on Sunday afternoon.
MEET THE TERPS
• The Terps are led by the midfield corps of senior Jen Giles, transfer Erica Evans and sophomore Grace Griffin. Giles leads the Terps with 34 goals, 14 assists, 48 points and 20 groundballs. Evans and Griffin are third and fourth on the team with 31 and 30 points apiece. Griffin has 23 goals, seven assists and is second on the team with eight caused turnovers. Evans, a transfer from Canisius, is third on the team with eight assists.
• Maryland is once again backlined by junior Megan Taylor, who has had an incredible start to 2019, leading the country with a .604 save percentage at 113 saves to 74 goals allowed. Taylor was named the B1G Defensive Player of the Week in each of the past five weeks and earned two IWLCA National Player of the Week honors.
• The attack is spearheaded by junior Kali Hartshorn and senior Caroline Steele. Hartshorn is second on the team in both points (40) and goals (31) and leads the team with 76 draw controls. Steele leads the team with 2.75 goals per game and had the game winner in overtime against No. 3 North Carolina.
• Senior Julia Braig and junior Lizzie Colson guide the Maryland defense. Braig leads the Terps with nine caused turnovers while Colson leads Maryland with 20 groundballs and is second on Maryland with 56 draw controls and eight caused turnovers.
MARYLAND LEADERS
GOALS - Jen Giles (34)
ASSISTS - Brindi Griffin (15)
POINTS - Jen Giles (48)
DRAW CONTROLS - Kali Hartshorn (76)
GROUNDBALLS - Lizzie Colson, Jen Giles (20)
CAUSED TURNOVERS - Julia Braig (9)
SAVES - Megan Taylor (113)
REESE APPROACHING ALL-TIME WINS MARK
• With the team's next win, head coach Cathy Reese will become the winningest coach in Maryland history, surpassing her college coach Cindy Timchal.
• Reese tied Timchal's win mark in Saturday's win over Rutgers and now stands at 260-21, while Timchal ended her Maryland career at 260-46. Reese played for Timchal from 1995-98 and served as her assistant coach from 1999-03.
AWARD TIME FOR MEGAN TAYLOR
• Senior Megan Taylor has won a handful of awards over the past weeks, garnering Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors in each of the past five weeks and IWLCA National Player of the Week honors on March 13 and 20.
• Taylor now leads the NCAA with a .604 save percentage, having saved 113 shots to only allowing 74 goals. The senior also leads the Big Ten in goals against average and has the third best mark in the country at 7.32 goals. Taylor and Maryland have the third best scoring defense in the country, only allowing 6.75 goals per game.
• Over the five week time frame, Taylor has recorded a .640 save percentage at 80 saves and only 45 goals allowed. Taylor's streak of winning the award is the longest by any Maryland player since the Terps joined the conference in 2015.
• With her 600th career save a few weeks back against Ohio State, Taylor is also the current NCAA save leader, having the most in her career of any goalkeeper in the country.
SEVEN TERPS ON TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
• Seven members of the No. 2 Maryland women's lacrosse team, the most in the country, were named to the initial Tewaaraton Watch List, as announced by the Tewaaraton Foundation.
• Graduate midfielder Erica Evans, four seniors: Julia Braig, Jen Giles, Caroline Steele and Megan Taylor and junior defender Lizzie Colson were all selected for the watch list. Last week, Kali Hartshorn was added to the list.
• The Terps have the most players in the country named to the watch list. Each Terp named to the list was selected as a preseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse, while Braig, Giles and Taylor were named Maryland's Big Ten Players to Watch.
• Taylor has now been selected for the Tewaaraton Watch List in three straight seasons. It's the second appearance for Braig, Evans, Giles and Steele, while Colson and Hartshorn makes an appearance on the watch list for the first time. Last season, both Braig and Taylor were named one of 25 Tewaaraton nominees.
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
• Rutgers stands at 9-4 this season with wins over then No. 9 Princeton, No. 10 Loyola, No. 12 Duke and No. 9 James Madison.
• Maryland is 42-17 all-time against Virginia
• Last year, with a one goal lead and 20 minutes left to play, the No. 2 Maryland women's lacrosse team (11-1) scored the final six goals of the game to top No. 6 Virginia (8-4), 15-8 in College Park. Megan Whittle and Kali Hartshorn, paced the Maryland offense all night long, as Whittle led the Terps in scoring with five goals while Hartshorn was right behind her with four, while also tallying an assist. Junior midfielder Jen Giles filled up the stat-sheet, scoring two goals, assisting on another two, and securing career-highs in groundballs (four) and caused turnovers (two).
