No. 1 Maryland women’s lacrosse (13-0, Big Ten 5-0) has steamrolled through 13 games, but now faces its toughest test.

No. 4 Northwestern (9-3, Big Ten 3-1) comes to College Park on Thursday night at 6 p.m., looking to end Maryland’s undefeated start.

And rightfully so. 

Last year in the Big Ten Tournament, Maryland hosted Northwestern in the final. The Wildcats won that game in the final minute, 13-12. That would lead to a disappointing end to Maryland’s season. Whole Northwestern fell in the national championship game to then-No. 1 North Carolina. 

This is the toughest test for the Terps, who have only faced one top ten this season – Johns Hopkins. In that matchup, they won 15-12. Since then, they narrowly beat No. 21 Penn State and cruised past Rutgers. 

Northwestern beat USC its last time out through some key contributors, including Madison Taylor.

Taylor holds the NCAA record for most goals scored in a season and remains on top in her senior year. She is currently on track to repeat that record with just one fewer goal at this point than she had last year. 

Taylor has an average of 4.83 goals per game, an average shots on goal percentage of 70.1%, and is currently ranked second by the NCAA for goals per game.

Sophomore Aditi Foster is second on the team for goals and assists; she currently has 38 points on the season. Foster has scored in 10 of Northwestern’s 12 games and records a point per game. 

Graduate goalkeeper Jenika Cuocco has been up and down this season, ranging from a save percentage of 27.3% to 64.3%, averaging out to 49%. Cuocco played one of her best games against USC, holding the Trojans under 10 goals.

The Terps have a well-rounded offense headed by Lauren LaPointe. She has scored every game this season.  LaPointe’s average shots on goal percentage is currently higher than Taylor’s at 76%, and she is only 11 goals below Taylor while tying her in assists.

In the last game, Maisy Clevenger and Emma Abbazia both scored twice more than either of them has scored in a game this season. The team as a whole currently has a shots on goal percentage of 72.1%, while Northwestern is at 70.7%.

JJ Suriano has been averaging a 53% save percentage and has only dipped below it four times, the lowest she’s gone being 35%.

Thursday will be a tough test to see if the Terps will stay undefeated. It would be a massive win for the program.