JJ Suriano’s Rise From Reluctant Goalie to Big Ten’s Best Powers Maryland’s Title Push
Once hesitant to step in the cage, Suriano has become one of the nation’s top goalies — and a cornerstone of Maryland’s championship aspirations.
Brady Ruth, Staff Writer
5/7/2026
First-grade JJ Suriano was called on to play goalie, and she burst into tears.
The young lacrosse player didn’t want to spend any time in the cage — she wanted to score. She resisted as much as she could, but everyone had to try every position at that age, and eventually, she wasn’t able to hold out any longer and had to don the goalie mask for the first time.
“They put me in there, and I thought it was one of the most fun things I'd ever done in my entire life,” Suriano said. “My parents love talking about the story, and they noticed that I even moved to the ball. I just had that instinct. The next year, I took it more seriously and I just never looked back.”
Over a decade later, Suriano is the best goalie in the Big Ten Conference and — according to Maryland head coach Cathy Reese — perhaps the nation.
After a standout regular season and Big Ten Tournament, Suriano was named 2026 Big Ten Goaltender of the Year as well as 2026 All-Big Ten First Team, becoming the seventh Terp goalie to be recognized as the conference’s best since Maryland joined it in 2015.
“It just talks to the goalie culture that we have at Maryland,” Suriano said. “There have been so many great goalies before me, and I get to see their pictures and their names in the hallways every single day in our facility. Being part of that legacy now is something that's so special, because those are goalies that I looked up to when I was younger, and now to be part of that is a pretty surreal feeling.”
Playing big is just playing fearless and having that confidence in yourself. I’ll look back at pictures of myself and be like ‘Oh my, there's a lot of open net behind me’, but I lean on the confidence I have in my defense to give me the shot that I want to see, and the confidence in myself after playing for so long. I have so many years of experience. I've made every save under the sun. I trust myself and my ability to do what I have to do. That’s playing big.JJ Suriano
With stars in her eyes, Suriano, growing up in Baltimore, watched an elite lineage of goaltenders excel at College Park. Once she found a love for the position, she fully dove into it. Her aunt coached at Loyola during Suriano’s childhood, and the days of practice quickly bore fruit as she started to recognize her own potential in the cage.
But there was still another key piece of her identity that needed to be unlocked: her name. An early experience on a youth team with two Julias — both of them goalies — created a need for clarification. The two were dubbed “J” and “JJ”, creating a nickname that’s lasted ever since.
“I think that some of my teammates probably don't even know that my name is Julia, but I love the nickname,” Suriano said.
When the time came, Suriano was able to commit to Maryland, head just down the road, and follow in the footsteps of some of the players she idolized growing up. With her support system close by, Suriano has been able to excel in the cage, growing immensely with each passing season.
“The pride that I feel playing for the state school is something so special,” Suriano said. “I never wanted to go too far away from home because of my relationship with my family, and it has been so special having so many things they've been able to come to. That's something I do not take for granted, because it's so special to be able to see them in the stands or hear them cheering for me.”
Just five-foot-three, Suriano doesn’t physically stack up next to most goaltenders, yet she’s a bigger presence in goal than anyone. She embraces the underdog mentality and leans on her mindset of “playing big” to get the job done at all costs.
“Playing big is just playing fearless and having that confidence in yourself,” Suriano said. “I’ll look back at pictures of myself and be like ‘Oh my, there's a lot of open net behind me’, but I lean on the confidence I have in my defense to give me the shot that I want to see, and the confidence in myself after playing for so long. I have so many years of experience. I've made every save under the sun. I trust myself and my ability to do what I have to do. That’s playing big.”
Her body of work shows that she's the best goalie in the country. We're really, really proud of her and proud of how she's continued to grow as she's gone through the season. As a goaltender, her ability to rebound when goals do go in, she's got an ability to reset, which has made it really special and awesome to watch.Maryland head coach Cathy Reese
JJ is the Big Ten’s best! ?? pic.twitter.com/77UJxjc1Jw
— Maryland Women's Lacrosse (@MarylandWLax) April 29, 2026
If that mantra sounds familiar, it’s because former Terrapin goaltender Megan Taylor — four-time Big Ten Goaltender of the Year and 2019 NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player — also stood at five-foot-three, but pushed the boundaries of what many thought possible for a “small” goalie.
“Watching Meg Taylor was my inspiration growing up, just because she was a shorter goalie as well,” Suriano said. “I work with so many smaller goalies, and it’s really fun to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re small goalies, but that shouldn’t stop us, and we have the ability to make some high saves when we probably shouldn’t even be able to reach them.’
I like to say that we’re already halfway to the ground because we’re so short, so those shots get easier. I use the little tools that I’ve learned along the way to help myself, and I like to share that with the next generation as well, so that they have the confidence in themselves to not be limited by their physical size, but rather to have confidence and faith in themselves.”
The pride that I feel playing for the state school is something so special. I never wanted to go too far away from home because of my relationship with my family, and it has been so special having so many things they've been able to come to. That's something I do not take for granted, because it's so special to be able to see them in the stands or hear them cheering for me.JJ Suriano
An inspiration for the next wave of young goaltenders — even those that might dread the cage as she once did — Suriano’s statement season continues to add outstanding chapters to her collegiate career.
“Her body of work shows that she's the best goalie in the country,” Reese said. “We're really, really proud of her and proud of how she's continued to grow as she's gone through the season. As a goaltender, her ability to rebound when goals do go in, she's got an ability to reset, which has made it really special and awesome to watch.”
Suriano redshirted in her first year in Reese’s program, giving her the chance to sit behind Emily Sterling, another two-time Big Ten Goaltender of the Year. Despite the two being different in stature, Suriano was able to soak in the wisdom of a veteran, helping her step right into the spotlight when Sterling graduated.
“It was more the mental side of the game and the leadership side that she taught me,” Suriano said. “Watching her play out there, she was such a calm presence that you could always rely on, and that was something that I really looked up to and admired about her. I still talk to her every now and then, talking through the mental game and making sure I'm in the right headspace. I would say everything that I learned from her translates more to the behind-the-scenes or the intangibles, rather than my actual physical performance on the field.”
HUGE save for JJ! ????
— Maryland Women's Lacrosse (@MarylandWLax) April 22, 2026
4Q| #4 Maryland 9, Ohio State 8 pic.twitter.com/V7xFavb0it
Suriano’s an absolute firecracker on the field. Her energy radiates throughout her teammates as she bounces from one corner of the net to another. Every move is calculated, every reaction a product of the years of training she’s put in to lift herself to the top.
“I'm a pretty active goalie out there,” Suriano said. “I'm not afraid to use every part of my body. I'm pretty sure I've made more saves this year with my body than my stick at this point. So my mindset is to go out there, put my body on the line, and do whatever I have to do to make the save.”
“She is full of life, passion, and excitement,” Reese said. “She loves Maryland, she loves lacrosse, and she loves her teammates, and that truly radiates when she plays her game. She's very active in the cage. She makes plays happen. She reacts quickly and she's a good communicator out there, so you definitely notice her presence every time that she's on the field.”
She’s an undeniable force and a leader on the 2026 Terps, but she doesn't let the pressure of leadership impact her. If anything, she sees every other player on the roster as just as big a piece as her, each with something to give to the team.
“I don't even necessarily think about being a leader on the field, because I turn to so many other girls,” Suriano said. “Whether they're older than me, younger than me, the same age as me, I look to them for leadership as well. I think what makes all groups so special is that we can all individually lean on each other and know that everyone's going to have each other's back and lead in a different way.”
Suriano may have expected to win Big Ten Goaltender of the year, but she never saw the timing coming. She got a call while taking an exam, her phone blowing up with congratulations when the award was announced.
“I had to keep it together for a little bit longer as I finished up the exam, but after that I was really excited to see that I had won the award,” Suriano said.
Naturally, she did just fine on the exam, again highlighting her knack for blocking out the noise and honing in on the task at hand. Now, that task becomes an NCAA Tournament run, something the Terps have been preparing for all season long. She’s quite possibly the best goalie in the nation, but it’ll take an entire roster to bring Maryland back to glory in 2026.
“That's not an individual award in the slightest,” Suriano said. “Huge shoutout to my coaches for the training they gave me, for the offense shooting on me every day to make me better, and for the defense for making my job in the cage easier. That award gives me the confidence in myself and the rest of the team that we have done our job as a unit all year long. It's time to finish it out the way that we want, put all the pieces together, and win that national championship.”
The first-grade Suriano who once cried at the thought of playing goalie almost feels laughable now — replaced by one who’s spent years preparing for this moment and is ready to lead Maryland’s championship push.
