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Maryland women’s lacrosse dismantles JMU, 17-7, in NCAA Tournament second round

edward lee, baltimore sun
·5 min read

COLLEGE PARK — If there were any concerns about starting goalkeeper Emily Sterling returning after a 15-day layoff, her Maryland women’s lacrosse teammates quickly and emphatically put those worries to rest.

The Terps scored on their first five possessions and raced to an 8-0 advantage to cruise to a 17-7 shellacking of visiting James Madison in an NCAA Tournament second-round game Sunday afternoon before an announced 802 at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

“We came in and I thought our team just started out with what we’ve known they had in them all along,” coach Cathy Reese said. “I think everybody on the team just brought it today. We kept our foot on the gas for the entire 60 minutes.”

Senior attacker Eloise Clevenger’s game highs in both goals (five) and points (eight) propelled Maryland (14-5), the No. 4 seed in the tournament, to its second quarterfinal appearance in the past three years. The Terps will host Florida (18-2) on Thursday at a time to be announced after the Gators upset No. 5 seed Virginia, 13-8.

The Terps’ ease at disposing of JMU (14-6) was not widely expected. Maryland had dropped three consecutive meetings before an 11-8 win over the then-second-ranked Dukes on March 10, and the score was tied at 6 in the third quarter before it pulled away.

But the offense was in a rhythm early. Clevenger converted a pass from senior attacker Chrissy Thomas just 51 seconds into the game, Clevenger found sophomore midfielder Kori Edmondson alone in the right alley for a dodge and score, and Edmondson scored from the slot to give the Terps an early 3-0 lead.

When they added on three more goals by the end of the opening frame, Edmondson, a Severn resident and McDonogh graduate, had a hat trick en route to four goals, and Clevenger, a Woodstock resident and Marriotts Ridge graduate, racked up three goals and two assists in the second quarter to inflate Maryland’s advantage to 12-2 late in the first half, kicking off a running clock that JMU couldn’t stop.

The Terps’ 12 first-half goals are the most in an NCAA Tournament game since they scored 15 in a 19-6 rout of Duke on May 15, 2022. And Clevenger’s eight points are the most by an individual in the tournament since attacker Caroline Steele finished with eight in a 17-8 quarterfinal thumping of Denver on May 18, 2019.

Senior midfielder Shaylan Ahearn, who controlled a season-high 11 draws and scored twice, said the offense wanted to be patient with the ball.

“We take it one possession at a time,” the Woodbine resident and Glenelg Country graduate said. “I think the first few give us a lot of momentum for what’s to follow. So I would say we made sure we came out with the intensity that we wanted to. I think our shooting was a result of us believing in one another and sticking it in the back of the net. I think we executed today, and we did our job, and that was a result of us doing our job.”

Reese pointed out that five of the offense’s six starters converted at least half of their shots.

“Our offense really just did their job and took the extra time to put it away, and it was awesome,” she said. “Eloise had a fantastic day. She stepped up on the offensive end, led the way for us. James Madison’s [defense] is tough, and they’ve challenged us continually over the years. But I think most of our shooters or people who had the opportunity to shoot today shot over 50%, which was awesome.”

The offense’s eruption relieved any pressure on Sterling, the graduate student who entered the tournament ranked fifth nationally in save percentage (.526) and 14th in goals-against average (8.94) but sat out Friday’s 17-1 demolition of Robert Morris because of an unspecified injury. The Bel Air resident and John Carroll graduate finished with six saves, including a sparkling left-leg save on a shot by Dukes graduate student attacker Kacey Knobloch from the doorstep early in the first quarter. She was pulled for senior Julia Hammerschlag (two saves) before the start of the fourth period.

“I think Emily is such a force back there, and she’s our main voice back there,” said graduate student defender Meghan Ball, who accounted for three draw controls and two caused turnovers. “But I also think it’s so much easier for us to play when we’re feeding off of our attack and they’re getting possessions and they’re scoring. So it’s easier for us to feed off of that energy and want to stop JMU even more just so we can give them more possessions to score.”

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Senior attacker Isabella Peterson, a Sparks resident and Hereford graduate, compiled four goals and three draw controls for JMU. But no one else found the net more than once, including sophomore attacker Maddie Epke, who totaled six points on five goals and one assist in Friday’s 14-13 win against Penn State in the first round.

“I thought that their 1-v-1 defense today was really a challenge for us to create good chances, and when we did take shots, we didn’t have our feet underneath of us, and we weren’t set,” Dukes coach Shelley Klaes said. “So they became turnovers. As the game went on, we made some adjustments and made some changes, and it was literally just shooting and draw controls that we couldn’t find today. By the end of the game, we started competing and found some energy and found some wind, but just too many goals had been scored.”

JMU chose to start freshman goalie Emily Evans, who stopped five shots and gave up only four goals to lift them to that victory over Penn State. But Evans surrendered five goals and made zero saves in 7:18 and was replaced by sophomore Caitlin Boden, the usual starter who finished with eight saves while allowing 12 goals.

NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS

Florida at No. 4 Maryland

Thursday, TBA

TV: ESPNU