Instant Impact

Maryland boasted one of the oldest and most experienced collegiate women’s lacrosse rosters in 2024. 

That Terrapin roster featured 12 senior and fifth-year student-athletes who left their mark on the program with a long list of personal and team successes. With just two student-athletes returning from that group, the Terps addressed roster construction for the 2025 season through development and recruitment efforts. 

Welcoming 11 freshmen on top of a talented group of returners, Maryland women’s lacrosse is committed to being a program that develops its student-athletes. Its youthful roster is primed to make an instant impact.

Head coach Cathy Reese is entering her 19th season and is one of the most decorated coaches at the collegiate level. She has led Maryland to unprecedented success. Reese is a four-time IWLCA National Coach of the Year and the all-time winningest coach in Maryland women's lacrosse history, with 331 wins. She has led the Terps to five national championships, 12 final fours, and 22 conference championships. 

“We graduated a lot of outstanding players in 2024, and most of them have been a part of our program for five years,” Reese said. “We have a lot of players on the roster that are ready for their opportunity, that have been here for a year, some that just may have not had the playing experience they had hoped for. But they learned a lot from this great class that graduated last year.”

Reese continued, mentioning her freshmen's important role this upcoming season.  

“Then we welcome in 11 freshmen, and we have a couple redshirts. This new energy, this excitement, we're working to really build our depth. These guys are hungry. They have a lot of grit. They're competitive. They hate losing. They've got what it takes to be an awesome player at Maryland.”

Kori Edmondson, Jordyn Lipkin, Kennedy Major, Neve O’Ferrall, and Chrissy Thomas are Maryland’s 2025 team captains. They’re all first-year captains tasked with leading the Terps’ youthful roster. All have embraced stepping into leadership roles and taking younger players under their wing, especially Edmondson.

Edmondson is one of the younger team captains, as she and O’Ferrall are both true juniors. With back-to-back Second Team All-Big Ten honors and 79 career goals, the accomplished midfielder wants to be someone her teammates can lean on. When she was a freshman in 2023, the person she looked up to was Abby Bosco. 

“As a leader, that's how I would like people to look at me,” Edmondson said. “They can lean on me when times are tough, and I know I can lean on Kennedy and our other captains just as much through that. I feel like [Abby] showed that very well. … It's super fun to have this bit of a creative role where we can experience things we've seen in the past and carry it on or transform it to fit our new team.”

Emma Abbazia, Kayla Gilmore, Megan Kenny, Ava Kitt, Devin Livingston, Reileigh McEnroe, Meg MacMurray, Mia Raucci, Shelby Sullivan, Julia Ward and Lydia Ward are the Terps’ freshman class. 

Edmondson and Major say the freshman class possesses many characteristics contributing to team success. Major, a 2024 Second-Team All-Big Ten defender, has also embraced being a leader and believes the class's willingness to compete when times are tough makes them primed to compete at a high level.    

“Cathy has placed a big emphasis on competing this year, and I think that's what all of us are trying to do as returners,” Major said. “We’re showing the younger girls the importance of just competing with every matchup for every play. … I feel like we have a bunch of perseveres.”

Emily Sterling, a four-year starter at goalie, was one of Maryland’s departures over the offseason. She ranks fourth in program history in saves (670) and was one of six Terps named National Goaltender of the Year. 

JJ Suriano takes the reins as Maryland’s next great defensive anchor between the pipes. The redshirt freshman Baltimore native was a three-time All-Conference Team and two-time All-Metro Second Team selection at Bryn Mawr High School. She redshirted last season and got the chance to learn from Sterling. 

“Having the opportunity to redshirt was huge for JJ,” Reese said. “Not only are you getting to see college speed shots and play at the college level daily at practice, but to learn from one of the best goalies of all time and play under her, I think, is something that's really valuable. JJ is a very passionate player. She's so energetic. When she can step on the field, she's going to give you everything she has, and she's going to do a great job leading this defense.”

Maryland’s talented freshmen and eager returners, primed for more prominent roles, aren’t the only changes this year’s team is experiencing. Reese also added two transfers: Caroline Ross, a junior defender, and Caroline Smith, a senior goalie. Both are from Butler. 

The Terps even welcomed back two coaches on their staff. Caroline Steele, a two-time national champion with the Terps as a player from 2016-19, will serve as the team’s director of player development. Steele was an assistant coach for Saint Joseph's from 2020-24 under Alex Kahoe, another former Terp player. Steele helped lead the Hawks to a program-best 14 wins and its first Atlantic 10 title in 2022. 

Alex Aust Holman was promoted to assistant coach after serving as the director of player development during the 2024 season and a volunteer assistant in 2023. She was also the director of operations during the 2014 and 2015 national championship seasons. Holman, who played from 2010-13 for the Terps, helped them win the 2010 national championship before being named National Attacker of the Year in 2013.

Maryland’s 2025 team may be different, but its long-standing history of tradition and success will guide it. The Terps open their season at home on Feb. 15 with a matchup against Syracuse.

“We’re very young, but we’re gritty, we are competitive, we’re fun, we’re proud to represent Maryland, and I think those four things make this team special,” Reese said.