May 11, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
- The University of Maryland women's lacrosse team continues its trek towards its eighth-straight national championship this Sunday as it will head to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., to take on the Big Red in an NCAA quarterfinals matchup scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
- The Terrapins earned a spot in the quarterfinals with one of their best wins of the year, an impressive, wire-to-wire 13-8 victory at Loyola. The Terps enter Sunday's game with an overall record of 11-9 (0-3 ACC). This year's preseason No. 1, Maryland was ranked eighth in the final IWLCA poll of the regular season and earned a spot in this year's tournament through an at-large berth.
- Maryland's win over Loyola was its second this season over a top five opponent and kept the Terps' NCAA win streak alive at 21. In the win, the Terrapins jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never let the Greyhounds within three goals. Aussies Courtney Hobbs and Sonia Judd each led the way with three goals and an assist apiece.
- Cornell enters this weekend's matchup with an overall record of 15-1 and is riding a school-record 10-game win streak. By comparison to Maryland's 32 NCAA postseason wins, the Big Red got their first-ever NCAA win in Thursday's 16-8 victory over Syracuse (they are 1-1 all-time in the postseason).
- Maryland entered 2002 as the seven-time defending national champion and the winningest team in the history of women's lacrosse. The Terps were a perfect 23-0 a year ago, winning the ACC and national title in the process while winning more games than any team ever in a single season.
The Drive for Eight
- This year's NCAA Tournament signifies Maryland's run at an eighth straight NCAA title and the school's 11th national championship overall in women's lacrosse. The Terrapins' current streak of championships began in 1995 and their overall list of titles includes the 1981 (AIAW), '86 and '92 seasons as well.
- Maryland is 43-13 all-time in postseason tournaments (USWLA, AIAW and NCAA) with its last loss coming in the finals of the 1994 NCAA Tournament. The Terps have won 21-straight NCAA Tournament games and are 32-8 all-time in NCAA postseason play.
Bucking the Trend
- Maryland's impressive win over Loyola was a notable one when looking at the first day of play of this year's NCAA tournament.
- The Terrapins were both the lone road team and the lone underdog to win a first round game. Specifically, seven home teams won (out of eight first round games) and did so by an average margin of victory of 11.1 goals (17.7 to 6.6).
- The Terps' 13 goals against Loyola tied the most scored against the defensive-minded Greyhounds this year and were more than three times what Maryland was able to muster in a 7-4 loss just three games ago. Going into the game, Loyola owned an NCAA-best 6.44 goals allowed per outing.
More NCAA Notables
- The Terrapins' seven consecutive titles are the longest string of any Division I women's team in the nation. The Terps' string is the longest current streak in Division I athletics and the third-longest streak ever in women's Division I athletics (traling only LSU outdoor track (11, 1987-97) and North Carolina soccer (nine, 1986-94)).
- Should Maryland beat Cornell and earn a trip to this year's Final Four, it would be its 13th-in-a-row. Entering this year's tournament, the Terrapins have played in the championship game 11 out of the last 12 years.
- Courtney Hobbs has scored at least a point in each of her last eight NCAA tournament games. In that span, she has scored 22 goals for an average of 2.75 goals per game in the last two years.
- Starting defender Megan Kelly has four NCAA championships and seven ACC Championships under her belt in her four-year career as a Terp. The Maryland native moonlights on the Terrapin field hockey team that won the 1998, '99, 2000 and 2001 ACC Championships and was crowned the 1999 NCAA Champions. Kelly was also part of the Terp squad that won the 1999, 2000 and 2001 NCAA women's lacrosse championships, as well as the ACC women's lacrosse championships from those seasons.
A Closer Look
- The 2002 season has been a tough one by the standards set in College Park, but a closer look at this year's team shows that the Terrapins have had a better season than their record indicates.
- Maryland has lost its nine games by a combined total of 18 goals (an average margin of defeat of 2.0 goals per game). Included in the nine losses are a total of five one-goal losses.
- The Terrapins have, according to the LaxPower rankings, played the toughest schedule in Division I women's lacrosse.
- LaxPower also rates the Terps as the sixth-best team in the nation with the seventh-highest ranking in the "Quality Win Factor" category.
- Maryland became the first fourth-seeded team in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament to win its way to the tourney finals. The Terps made it there with an impressive 15-12 win over then third-ranked Virginia. They ultimately lost in the finals to North Carolina by, again, a single goal (11-10).
- Of Maryland's nine losses, six have come to teams ranked - at the time the games were played - in the nation's top five.
- The team entered the week eighth in the nation in scoring (12.7 points per game) and first in draw controls (14.6 per game). Terps have beaten eight ranked opponents this year, four of whom were ranked in the top 10 at the time they played Maryland.
Head Coach Cindy Timchal
- Head coach Cindy Timchal is completing her 12th season at the helm of the Maryland women's lacrosse program in 2002. In her 11-plus years, she has established one of the most dominant teams in all of collegiate athletics as the Terrapins are 203-21 (.906) under her guidance, have earned 12 NCAA Tournament bids and have taken the crown eight times.
- With a win earlier this year over Johns Hopkins, Timchal won the 200th game of her career at Maryland, and now averages almost 17 wins per season for her 12 years at Maryland. By comparison, in the 17 years prior to Timchal's arrival, only three times had a Maryland team won more than 15 games in any single season.
- Timchal was selected as the '01 ACC Coach of the Year, her third time earning the honor. She has been chosen as National Coach of the Year twice and has coached 36 Terrapins to All-American status.
- Now in her 21st season of coaching collegiate athletics overall, Timchal got her start at Northwestern where she led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament five times in nine years. Her overall record (Maryland and Northwestern) currently stands at 279-61 (.821).
- With the Terps' win in the 2001 title game, Timchal became the winningest coach in the history of women's collegiate lacrosse. With the Terrapins' win over Princeton in the semifinals, she tied the record of William Smith's Pat Genovese, who led all coaches with 267 wins. With Maryland's win in the title game, Timchal moved to 268 wins for her career.
- Timchal is assisted by Gary Gait and Cathy Nelson. Gait is one of the most innovative minds in all of lacrosse coaching and widely held as one of the sports greatest players of all time. A 1991 graduate of Syracuse and three-time All-American, he still plays professionally and on the World Cup circuit. Nelson was an outstanding player in her own right as she was a two-time All-American at Maryland and the tournament MVP in the Terps' run to the 1998 national title.
Timchal's Year-by-Year at Maryland
1991 NCAA Runners-up 14-3
1992 NCAA Champions 14-1
1993 NCAA Semifinalists 12-2
1994 NCAA Runners-Up 13-1
1995 NCAA Champions 17-0
1996 NCAA Champions 19-0
1997 NCAA Champions 21-1
1998 NCAA Champions 18-3
1990 NCAA Champions 21-0
2000 NCAA Champions 21-1
2001 NCAA Champions 23-0
2002 11-9
11+ Seasons @ Md. 203-21 (.906)
Hobbs Tops 200
- In the final regular season game of her career (vs. George Mason), senior Courtney Hobbs reached several milestones.
- Hobbs was the game's leading scorer with three goals and four assists. Her seven points pushed her over the 200-point plateau for her career (she now has 206).
- Her point total also pushed her into the top 10 for her career at Maryland and her three goals moved her into the Terps' 10th spot in that category as well as she now has 148 in her three-plus seasons in College Park.
By the Skin of their Teeth
- Maryland has lost nine games this season, but there have been plenty of positives to point to in spite of that fact.
- In their nine losses, the Terps have lost by a combined 18 goals with four-goal losses to two No. 1 teams (Georgetown and Princeton) being the largest margins of defeat. That's one two-goal, one three-goal, five one-goal and two four-goal losses with all but two of the defeats coming at the hands of Top 10 opposition.
- That the Terrapins have been unable to pull out some close games may just be a simple sign of their age. For most of the season, Maryland has started six underclassmen (four freshman and two sophomores) while another six have seen action in the games. By comparison, only three underclassmen (Kelly Coppedge, Sonia Judd, Alexis Venechanos) earned starts at any point a year ago and a total of just five saw playing time in more than 10 games.
Scoring Streak
- Recently departed All-Americans Jen Adams and Quinn Carney finished their careers with amazing scoring streaks; streaks that lasted almost the length of their collegiate careers. Adams scored in each of her last 78 games as a Terp while Carney finished her career with a 73-game streak.
- This season, All-American candidate Courtney Hobbs has the longest running streak as she has scored at least a point in each of the last 47 games. Her last game without a point came against Loyola on April 29, 2000.
Venechanos Coming On
- Junior goalie Alexis Venechanos could not have chosen a better time to get hot. In her last four games, the Yorktown, N.Y., native has posted 47 saves and allowed just 36 goals for a .580 save percentage.
Shooting Stars
- Second-year players Kelly Coppedge and Annie Collins have made the most of their scoring opportunities in 2002.
- Coppedge, a sophomore from Annapolis, has converted 54 percent of the shots she has taken this year (50-of-92) for 50 goals, second most on the team.
- Collins, a redshirt freshman who missed last year with a knee injury, is seventh on the team in scoring but her 24 goals have come on just 41 shots, leaving her with a .585 shooting percentage.
New Look Terps
- After losing eight starters to graduation from last year's NCAA championship team, pundits knew that Maryland would have some fresh faces in the lineup. A look at who has played as the team crosses the season's midpoint would suggest that the Terps' best games are ahead of them.
- Through 19 games, Maryland has had all nine freshman see action with four (Annie Collins, Kristie Leggio, Greta Sommers, Acacia Walker) appearing as permanent fixtures in the starting lineup.
- By comparison, only one Terp freshman (Kelly Coppedge) started at any point last season and only one other (Molly Lambert) saw action in 10 games or more.
- Of Maryland's top seven scorers this year, four are underclassmen.
World Cup Terps
- The 2001 International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations' World Cup was played in High Wycombe, England, but that didn't stop the event from having a distinctive Maryland stamp.
- At the championships, which were won by the United States, a total of 14 former and current Terrapin lacrosse players represented their respective countries. The U.S. team featured eight Terps among its 16 players including Kelly Amonte-Hiller (1996), Erin Brown (1990), Quinn Carney (2001), Randall Flynn (1997), Christie Jenkins (2000), Kristin Sommar (2000), Michele Uhlfelder (1991) and Jess Wilk (1990). In addition, five members of the Australian national team can claim they played at Maryland. Among them were current Terp Courtney Hobbs and former players Jen Adams (2001), Trish Adams, Sarah Forbes (1997) and Sascha Newmarch (1998). Finally, Laura Warren (who joined the Terrapins in February), was a starting attacker for the Welsh team.
10th Anniversary for Timchal
- Last year marked the 20-year anniversary of Maryland's first-ever national championship, the AIAW title of 1981. This season marks another milestone, especially for head coach Cindy Timchal, as the 2002 season marks the 10-year anniversary of the Terps' first national title under Timchal.
- The 1992 Terrapins went 14-1 and started a run of championships that is nearly unparalleled in sports. Since the NCAA win in '92, Maryland has run off eight championships in 10 years, missing only in '92 and '93.
- Maryland has won the national championship in eight-of-11 of Timchal's years at the helm and finished worse than second only once (NCAA semifinalists in 1993).
Captains
- The captains of this year's Maryland team are seniors Meredith Egan and Courtney Hobbs. The pair were chosen after a vote was conducted by their teammates as representatives of this year's squad.
In the Rankings
- A pair of Terps have made their way towards the top of some NCAA statistical categories.
- Courtney Hobbs entered the week ranked 10th in the nation in scoring, averaging 4.32 points per game. She also ranked 12th nationally in assists per game (1.63) and 25th in goals per game (2.68).
- Sophomore Kelly Coppedge also appears in the NCAA rankings, placing 23rd in Division I in points per game (3.68) while she just recently dropped out of the top 30 in assists.
- As a team, Maryland ranked eighth in the NCAA in scoring offense at the start of the week with 12.7 goals per game while it led the nation in draw controls with an average of 14.6 per outing. It is also ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring margin (12th; +3.0) and ground balls (18th; 27.6 per game).
Scouting the Big Red
- Cornell entered the 2002 NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed and on a roll. The 15-1 (6-1 Ivy League) Big Red have won a school-record 10-straight games and have already posted the best season in their history. Their 15 wins are a school record as are their six wins over ranked opposition.
- Jenny Graap (Cornell, '86) is in her fifth year as head coach at her alma mater. She owns a 55-22 record with the Big Red and has an overall record of 76-66 in nine years of coaching. This year is just Cornell's second ever appearance in the NCAA tournament (last year being the first).
- Senior Jaimee Reynolds is the team's leading scorer with 57 points (44 goals, 13 assists). Earlier this year, she became the school's all-time leading point scorer and she entered the Syracuse game with 187 points. Sarah Averson is the team's second-leading scorer with 37 points (28 goals, nine assists).
- Cornell has lost just three games over the course of the past three years at home. In addition, it is in the midst of an 11-game win streak on their own turf.
- There seem to be two benchmarks to meet if one wants to beat the Big Red this year. Their lone loss (to Princeton) saw them give up more than 10 goals (16) and get outshot, marking the only time that either happened all season.
- Series Info: This year's NCAA quarterfinal matchup will mark the first ever meeting between Cornell and Maryland. The two teams have had seven games with common opponents this year with the Big Red going 6-1 and the Terps going 5-1 (CU played Syracuse twice).
Seventh Heaven
- Last year's NCAA Tournament signified Maryland's successful run at a seventh straight NCAA title and the school's 10th national championship overall. The Terrapins' current streak of championships began in 1995 and their overall list of titles includes the 1981 (AIAW), '86 and '92 seasons as well.
- The Terrapins seven consecutive titles is the longest string of any Division I women's team in the nation. Their seventh title matched the feat of John Wooden's UCLA Bruins from 1967-73. The longest current Division I streak is held by the Arkansas men's track team which has run off 12 consecutive NCAA Championships.
- The Terps' trip to last year's Final Four was their 12th-in-a-row. In addition, they have now played in the championship game 11 out of the last 12 years.
2001 Perfection
- With their season-ending wins at Dartmouth and Harvard, the Terrapins finished the 2001 regular season undefeated, marking just the sixth time in school history that a UM team finished its regular season without a blemish. In addition to the '95, '96 and '99 teams, the 1980 and 1994 teams went undefeated before losing the final games of their respective seasons. The 1984 team went without a loss in the regular season, but had a tie along the way before losing in the NCAA finals.
- After running the table in the NCAA Tournament, the Terps successfully nailed down their second undefeated season (including the NCAAs) in the last three years. That feat was accomplished for just the fourth time in school history joining the teams from 1995, 1996 and 1999.
