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| After the clock hit zero, the Maryland women's lacrosse team sprinted onto the field in jubilation. The Terps had done it. They knocked off five-time defending champion Northwestern, 13-11, in the NCAA National Championship game, battling back from an implausible 6-0 deficit. After a nine-year absence, the dynasty had finally returned to Maryland. |
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RETURNING WITH HIGH HOPES
Unlike the incredibly successful 2009 campaign, which came as a surprise to most in the lacrosse community, the 2010 Maryland women's lacrosse team returned all but one of its starters from the year before, when the Terps went 21-1 despite not starting a single senior all season. Leading the cast of returners for head coach Cathy Reese was senior Caitlyn McFadden, who was named a captain for the second straight season. McFadden was fresh off a gold medal win with the U.S. National Team at the 2009 FIL World Cup in Prague. The two-time All-American was tabbed National Preseason Player of the Year by Lacrosse Magazine and joined Karissa Taylor, Karri Ellen Johnson and Sarah Mollison on the initial list of candidates for the Tewaaraton award. |
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DEJA VU - WELL ALMOST
Maryland not only had to survive the toughest schedule in the land, it also had to overcome Mother Nature when 2010 opened in the middle of one of the worst winters the state of Maryland has ever experienced. The home opener against Richmond was moved to the field turf adjacent to the football stadium. With fans using piles of snow as bleachers, Maryland cruised to an easy 17-7 win. It would be the first of nine victories the Terps would earn by 10goals or more.
Other highlights of the regular season would include a 17-4 thrashing of Duke in Durham and a gritty come-from-behind win against a tough Towson squad. Maryland won 12 of its 13 games against teams ranked in the top 20 during the regular season with nine of those wins coming against squads in the top 10. The only smudge on Maryland's record heading into the ACC Tournament was a road loss at North Carolina in mid-April. But the Terps would soon get a chance for redemption against the Tar Heels. |
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SWEET REVENGE - TERPS WIN SECOND STRAIGHT ACC TITLE
After easily dispensing of Virginia for the second straight season in the ACC semifinals, Maryland played its best lacrosse of the year to that point with a decisive five-goal victory against top-ranked UNC in the ACC Championship game in College Park. McFadden earned her first of what would later be a laundry list of honors, being named ACC Tournament MVP for the second consecutive season. Arguably as important as the title, Maryland woke up the next morning to learn it had been ranked number one in the nation by both major polls. The Terps sustained that critical ranking the remainder of regular season, capping it by earning the top seed in the 2010 NCAA Championship. |
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CRUISING THROUGH THE POSTSEASON
Maryland drew Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Marist in the opening round of the tournament and coasted to a 20-5 romp against the Red Foxes. The Terps were all too familiar with their quarterfinal foe, No. 8 Penn. The Quakers knocked the Terps out of the tournament in 2007, but this season would be different. Maryland, with the help of a combined 10 goals from Mollison and McFadden, topped Penn for the second time in 2010 to advance to the NCAA semifinals, where it would face unseeded Syracuse.
After falling in the semifinals in 2009, the Terps would be very careful not to make the same mistake again. All season, Reese had reiterated that this team would take it one game at a time and tournament time would prove no different. Maryland came out with a vengeance, soundly defeating Syracuse, 14-5, to move on to a championship bout with five-time defending heavyweight Northwestern. |
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CHAMPIONSHIP HYSTERIA
It had been two years in the making, but the lacrosse community finally got it what it beckoned for - a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown. Before a record-breaking crowd of 9,782, with the majority donning red, Northwestern came out firing, building a 6-0 lead before the first media timeout. Most teams would shudder at such a scenario, but not Maryland.
The Terps chipped away goal by goal, and managed to head into halftime knotted at eight. They say defense wins championships, and the cliche never rang more true than that hot, sunny Sunday in Towson. Maryland, which boasts the top-ranked defense in the nation, managed to stymie the nation's most potent offense for nearly 28 minutes in the middle of match, helping manufacture one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Championship history. After the 13-11 victory, the trophy would return to College Park and Reese would complete the championship trifecta - four as a player, three as an assistant and now one at the head of the storied Maryland women's lacrosse program. |
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THE AFTERMATH
The Terps stole the local and national media spotlight in the hours and days following the incredible comeback. McFadden added to her trophy case by earning the NCAA Championship's Most Outstanding Player award and five Terps garnered All-America status, including McFadden, Taylor, Mollison, Johnson, and Katie Schwarzmann.
The future is incredibly bright. All but two of Maryland's 13 goals in the championship game came from players who will return for 2011. Add that group to what is anticipated to be one of the top recruiting classes in the country and the possibilities for the 2011 squad are endless. |
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