By: Connor Bell

For their fifth win in a row, the Terps defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 5-4 to take a two-game lead for first place in the Big Ten.

For her 11th goal of the season, senior Welma Luus got the match started off right for the Terps as they went up 1-0 two minutes and thirty seconds into the contest. However the lead did not last long and almost a minute after this play, Penn State evened the game up at one apiece.

After these two early scores, things settled down a bit for the first half with both the Nittany Lions and the Terps scoring goals ten minutes apart. First, Maryland got the lead back with a goal in the 15th minute mark from freshman Madison Maguire. Then, Penn State struck back in the 26th minute with a goal from Madison Morano, which would leave the teams tied heading into the half.

In the second half, it appeared Maryland just wanted to win this game more. The offense turned things on, scoring three straight goals and not allowing the Nittany Lions to respond until there was only eight minutes left in the game.

However, Penn State did respond as quickly as they could with two goals in the closing minutes of the second half. But they could not overcome the three goal deficit as Maryland held on for a one goal victory.

This victory was a close but important one. It means that the Terps will at least own a share of the Big Ten Title this season no matter what happens the rest of the way. However, it is almost certain that the Terps will again take home a Big Ten regular season title as they finish their season with a three game home stand with just one game against a Big Ten opponent. That team being Rutgers who are just two games above .500.

Maryland’s main focus at the moment is preparing for a showdown vs. undefeated Connecticut, who comes to College Park this Sunday at noon.