#3 Maryland (15-1)
vs
#7 Northwestern (13-3)
April 26, 2018 || Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex || College Park, Md. || 7:00 p.m.
For starters
• The No. 3 Maryland women’s lacrosse team (15-1, 5-0 B1G) and No. 7 Northwestern (13-3, 5-0 B1G) will meet on Thursday evening with the Big Ten regular season title on the line. Both teams come in at 5-0 in the Big Ten. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network. Mark Dixon and Sheehan Stanwick Burch will have the call.
• Maryland heads into this weekend’s contest with a 15-1 record and No. 3 ranking. The Terps are on a 13 game winning streak and last week, defeated No. 15 Penn State, 13-8 at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
• Megan Whittle (61 goals, 12 assists) leads the team with 73 points, while Caroline Steele (43 goals, 14 assists) stands in second with 57. Whittle leads the Big Ten in many offensive categories, including goals per game (3.81), points per game (4.56) and free position percentage (67.4%) and is third in the country in free position goals per game with 1.81, after scoring a career-best six against UMBC. Steele ranks third in the conference in points (57), third in free position percentage (55%) and fifth in goals (43).
• Since its inaugral Big Ten season in 2015, Maryland has won all three Big Ten Regular Season Championships, as the Terps currently stand 21-0 in Big Ten regular season games over their four seasons. Maryland will look to win its fourth straight, and 22nd straight B1G regular season game on Thursday.
• Playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules, Maryland has gone 9-1 against ranked teams and 5-1 against teams in the top-ten, only falling narrowly in overtime at #8 North Carolina.
• Maryland is on a 73-game win streak at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex and hasn’t lost in College Park since March 10, 2012.
last time out
• Grace Griffin tied a career-high with five points, while Megan Whittle scored five goals to lead Maryland to a 13-8 win over Penn State last Thursday.
• After a defensive battle in the first half where both teams had trouble finding the back of the net, Maryland found its rhythm to start the second half, scoring six of the first seven goals to take a commanding 11-4 lead.
• Whittle and G. Griffin led the charge offensively with Whittle doing the scoring and G. Griffin the passing. The senior had five goals, four in the second half, to move to third all-time in NCAA history with 275 goals. G. Griffin had a career-best three assists, while adding two first half goals.
scouting the WILDCATS
• Northwestern stands at 13-3 (5-0 B1G) this season, defeating Rutgers, 19-7 last weekend.
• Selena Lasota and Sheila Nesselbush lead Northwestern in goals with 45 and 41 respectively, while Shelby Fredericks has 33 assists.
terps-WILDCATS history
• Maryland leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 14-6.
• The two programs met twice last season, both in the regular season in Evanston and in the Big Ten Tournament Championship.
• In the B1G Championship, Maryland defeated Northwestern, 14-6 as Caroline Steele scored four goals. The Terps started the game up 4-0 with goals from Steele, Brindi Griffin, Taylor Hensh and Kali Hartshorn. Stukenberg and Hartshorn scored later in the half, but a 3-1 run from the Wildcats put them within two at halftime, 6-4. Megan Taylor notched 10 saves in the first half.
WHITTLE BECOMES ALL-TIME GOALS LEADER
• A few weeks back, Megan Whittle both tied and passed Maryland great Jen Adams for the all-time goal lead at Maryland.
• Whittle tied Adams with a second half goal against Princeton, which kickstarted a game-ending 7-2 run to cap off a Terrapin comeback. Against Ohio State, Whittle broke the record on free position in the first half, going on to score three more goals. Last week against Penn State, Whittle knocked in five goals for a current total of 275.
• Whittle is currently third all-time in NCAA history in goals and stands 14 goals behind Gail Cummings (Temple, 1985-88) for second all-time.
CONTROLLING THE DRAW
• As a team, Maryland stands third in the the nation and leads the Big Ten in draw controls per game, with 16.50, with Kali Hartshorn, Meghan Siverson and Lizzie Colson leading the charge.
• Hartshorn has posted a career-best 12 draw controls twice this season, against #8 UNC (2/24) and Ohio State (4/15). Siverson then had a career-high of her own, 13 draw controls against UMBC (2/28). Against Michigan (3/31), Colson stepped up and recorded a career-best seven draw controls, as Maryland won the battle 17-10.
• Maryland has 264 as a team through 16 games, with Siverson, Hartshorn and Colson combining for 203 of those (76.9%).
MAGNIFICENT MEGAN
• In the second half of the season, Megan Taylor has been a force in the cage. The junior has 78 saves, with only 69 goals allowed, a .531 save percentage and only 7.39 goals allowed per game over the last 10 games.
• In a 13-7 win over No. 8 Penn, Taylor tied her season-high with 13 saves and recorded her highest save percentage of the season at .650 in the win at Penn.
• Against Virginia and Rutgers, Taylor only allowed 10 goals while recording 15 saves, a .600 percentage. Taylor was essential on a Maryland defense that held the #6 team in the country to just eight goals. Against Rutgers, Taylor came in 19 minutes in and only allowed two goals in 41 minutes, while recording seven saves.
• The junior had her second best mark of the season with 12 saves against No. 19 Princeton, including only allowing two goals over the last 20 minutes down the stretch.
• Taylor has been key on a Maryland defense that has only allowed its opponent to reach double-digit goals twice over the last 10 games, currently ranking 9th in the country in scoring defense, at 9.06 goals allowed per game.
A GLANCE AT GRACE
• Grace Griffin has made an impact this season, contributing all over the field with 22 goals, seven assists, 25 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers.
• Last week against Penn State, Griffin led the way with five points, tallying two first half goals and a career-best second half three assists.
rack up the honors
• This season, Maryland has received a lot of recognition, both on the conference and national level.
• The Terps have won 12 Big Ten honors this season, with Lizzie Colson winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week four times, Megan Whittle winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week four times, Megan Taylor winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week three times and Grace Griffin earning Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognition twice.
• On the national level, five Terps were named to the initial Tewaaraton Watch List on March 1st. Senior attacker Megan Whittle and a quartet of juniors: defender Julia Braig, midfielder Jen Giles, attacker Caroline Steele and goalie Megan Taylor were all selected for the watch list.
• Lastly, Megan Whittle has garnered two national honors this season, being named the IWLCA National Player of the Week on 3/28 and the Brine/US Lacrosse National Player of the Week for her efforts this past week..
Where the terps rank
• As a team, Maryland ranks top-ten in the nation and first in the Big Ten in six major categories, including leading the nation in shots per game:
| Stat |
NCAA Rank |
B1G Rank |
Value |
| Shots Per Game |
3rd |
1st |
36.99 |
| Draw Controls Per Game |
3rd |
1st |
16.50 |
| Free Position Percentage |
5th |
1st |
52.8% |
| Scoring Margin |
7th |
1st |
6.81 |
| Goals Allowed Per Game |
9th |
1st |
9.06 |
• Individually, Megan Whittle leads the Big Ten and ranks top ten nationally in three categories:
| Stat |
NCAA Rank |
B1G Rank |
Value |
| Free Position Goals Per Game |
3rd |
1st |
1.81 |
| Shots Per Game |
7th |
1st |
7.88 |
| Goals |
9th |
1st |
61 |
•
Megan Taylor leads the Big Ten and ranks top ten nationally in goals-against average:
| Stat |
NCAA Rank |
B1G Rank |
Value |
| Goals Against Average |
9th |
1st |
9.03 |
