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March 25, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland women's lacrosse team will hit the midpoint of its schedule this week and will look to complete the first half without a blemish. On Friday, March 28, the Terrapins will square off with Penn State University at 5:00 p.m. in the first game of the ACC/ALC Challenge from Columbus, Ohio. On Sunday the 30th, the Terps will close out the weekend at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Complex by taking on the hometown Buckeyes. North Carolina is the other ACC team competing in the tourney.
-- The tournament will serve as yet another barometer for the Terrapins as they struggled with the Nittany Lions before falling to the Buckeyes a year ago. Up to this point in the season, however, Maryland has been a completely different team despite a relatively low change in personnel. Through eight games, the Terps are undefeated, have beaten seven Top 20 teams and five schools ranked among the nation's Top 10 at the time they met.
-- Maryland (8-0, 3-0 ACC) remains second in the latest IWLCA poll after decisive road wins over Dartmouth and Old Dominion last week. The Terps have already accomplished one milestone this season as they wrapped up the Atlantic Coast Conference's regular season title with their win at Virginia on March 11.
-- Penn State is the nation's 11th-ranked team with a 3-3 record (as of March 24th). The Nittany Lions have had somewhat of a roller coaster ride this season, winning and losing in every other game of 2003 while posting a 1-1 home record and a 2-2 road mark. Their last outing was a 10-7 loss to Princeton while they will take on Temple before travelling to Columbus to take on the Terps and Tar Heels.
-- No. 16 Ohio State is one of the few teams in the nation who can claim a .500 record against Maryland after last year's shocking 17-9 win in College Park. The Buckeyes are off to a 5-1 start (through March 24th) and will take on Notre Dame before this weekend's competition. The Terps and Tar Heels will easily be OSU's toughest challenge to date as No. 15 Johns Hopkins is the highest-ranked opponent it has faced thus far in '03.
"D" The Difference
-- This year's Maryland team has a completely different look this year in many respects, but the one area that stands out as improved over last season is the Terps' look on the defensive end.
-- Through eight games, the Terrapins are allowing an ACC-best 6.0 goals per game and has yet to allow an opponent -- despite two overtime games and four outings against Top 10 competition -- to hit the 10-goal plateau in any game.
-- The Terp defense -- spearheaded by starting defenders Molly Lambert, Julie Shank, Greta Sommers and Laura Warren -- is clearly improved, already forcing 107 turnovers through eight games (an average of 13.4 caused turnovers per game), but the most marked improvement of 2003 has come from senior netminder Alexis Venechanos.
-- Venechanos leads the ACC with her .593 save percentage, a mark that is over 100 percentage points better than her career average coming into the season. She has made 67 saves and allowed just 46 goals, a large part of why Maryland is outscoring its opponents 98-48 this season.
Back On Top
-- With its win over Virginia on March 11, Maryland completed the biggest turnaround it has had to since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1997.
-- The Terrapins' impressive 11-8 win over the Cavaliers ended their ACC regular season and they did so without a blemish. After finishing last in the league with an 0-3 record a year ago, Maryland now claims the ACC regular season title, the top seed in April's conference tournament and a perfect conference record for the fourth time in its history.
-- Oddly enough, since 1997, the Terps have finished with a perfect regular season ACC record in each of its odd-numbered seasons. In 1997, 1999, 2001 and now 2003, the Terrapins own a 12-0 league mark, while in '98, 2000 and 2002, the team stands at 3-6. In addition, Maryland's record in those odd seasons has been astounding as it now owns a 73-1 mark in odd years since '97.
Head Coach Cindy Timchal
-- Head coach Cindy Timchal is in her 13th season at the helm of the Maryland women's lacrosse program. In her 12-plus years, she has established one of the most dominant teams in all of collegiate athletics as the Terrapins are 211-22 (.906) under her guidance, have earned 12 NCAA Tournament bids and have taken the crown eight times.
-- Timchal is one of the winningest coaches in the history of women's collegiate lacrosse. With the Terps' win over Princeton in the semifinals of the 2001 NCAA tournament, she tied the record of William Smith's Pat Genovese, who led all coaches with 267 wins. Despite a sub-par 2002 by Timchal's standards, she entered 2003 tied with Genovese on the all-time wins list with 279 while she is also in the all-time top five in games coached and winning percentage.
-- 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 players to All-American status 61 times in her career.
-- From the time of her arrival, Timchal has lost no more than three games in any one season, including a spectacular 21-0 season in 1999 and last year's 23-0 mark. She has led the Terps to the Final Four every year but one since coming to Maryland, reaching the title game an unbelievable 11 of the last 13 years.
-- Now in her 22nd 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 287-62 (.822).
-- Timchal is assisted by a pair of her most successful proteges, Cathy Nelson and Jen Adams. Nelson is now the veteran of Terp assistants as she enters her fifth year. She is joined by Adams who is in her first season as a full-time coach after spending a year as an undergraduate assistant. From Nelson's freshman year in 1995 to Adams' senior season in 2001, the duo were a part of each of Maryland's seven-straight national championship seasons.
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
1999 NCAA Champions 21-0
2000 NCAA Champions 21-1
2001 NCAA Champions 23-0
2002 NCAA Quarterfinalists 11-10
2003 8-0
12+ Seasons @ Md. 211-22 (.906)
Scoring Streaks
-- Senior attacker/midfielder
Sonia Judd carries the Terps' longest scoring streak as she has now posted at least one point in each of the past 25 games.
-- The other notable streaks in tact from last season belongs to
Kelly Coppedge who has scored in each of the last 11 games.
Judd Hits Stride in Senior Year
-- Native Australian
Sonia Judd has gotten off to her best start in any of her four years at Maryland this season, ranking second on the team in scoring with 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists).
-- In addition to earning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week honors in week one, Judd surpassed the 100-point plateau for her career in Maryland's 10-8 win over UNC.
-- Judd entered this week fourth the ACC in points per game (3.63 avg.) and first in assists (1.63 avg.) while ranking ninth in goals per game with 2.00.
Coppedge A Tewaaraton Nominee
-- It was announced earlier this year that
Kelly Coppedge has been nominated on the initial list of Tewaaraton Trophy nominees, an award which recognizes the top male and female in collegiate lacrosse.
-- Coppedge, a senior from Annapolis, is the leading returning scorer on this year's Terrapin team as well as its lone returning All-American. She currently leads the Terrapins in scoring with 34 points and was named ACC Player of the week last week.
-- Through eight games, Coppedge is tied for first in the ACC in scoring (4.25 ppg) and goals (3.0 gpg) while ranking fourth in assists per game with 1.25.
Shooting Stars
-- As a team, the Terps have a solid .443 shooting percentage this season (compared to their opposition's .364), but that pales in comparison to several of the team's top scorers.
-- Two of Maryland's top five scorers this season own over a .500 shooting percentage as
Sonia Judd (.500) and
Jessica Dorney (.625) lead the team's regulars. Scoring leader
Kelly Coppedge isn't far behind as she owns an impressive .480 percentage on a team-high 50 shots.
-- Notably, Judd leads the team in game-winning goals with three while Dorney has posted 10 goals on just 16 shots.
Tri-Captains
-- The captains of this year's Maryland team are seniors
Sonia Judd,
Julie Shank and
Alexis Venechanos. The trio were chosen after a vote was conducted by their teammates as representatives of this year's squad.
Scouting the Nittany Lions
-- Head coach Suzanne Isador is in her third season at the helm of the Penn State women's lacrosse program. Isador is a 1995 graduate of PSU and in her time in State College, she has compiled an 19-22 record.
-- Penn State is 3-3 (through March 24), most recently dropping a 10-7 decision to defending national champ Princeton.
-- The Nittany Lions lost seven starters from a year ago. Through six games, Colleen O'Hara leads the team with 19 points. Katie Jeschke is second on the team in scoring, netting 13 goals (tied with O'Hara for the team high).
-- Series record: Maryland is 23-13-1 all time against Penn State. PSU's last win in the series was a 7-6 decision in 1991.
Scouting the Buckeyes
-- The Ohio State women's lacrosse team is led by Sue Stimmal, who is in her eighth season with the Buckeyes. Under Stimmal's guidance, OSU has posted a 59-47 record.
-- Ohio State opened its season with a 11-10 loss to Stanford, but has since rattled off five straight wins (prior to its game against Notre Dame on March 25). The Buckeyes' best win of the season was a 9-6 win over then No. 15 Johns Hopkins while it most recently thrashed No. 20 Northwestern, 14-4.
-- Ohio State's top player may be goaltender Erin Forquer. Through six games, Forquer has saved 38 shots while allowing just 22 goals for a strong .633 save percentage. A winner in all five games she has started, she has posted a 4.51 goals against average in 2003.
-- Regina Oliver and Shannon Wilson each lead the team in scoring with 17 points.
-- Series record: Maryland and Ohio State have split the two games played between them with Ohio State winning 17-9 in College Park a year ago and the Terps taking a 14-8 decision at Penn State the year before. Both games have been a part of the ACC/ALC (or Big Ten) Challenge.
