Through the first three games of No. 3 Maryland women’s lacrosse’s season, its wins either lacked competitiveness or high scoring.
Yet on Friday, the Terps had a high-energy close battle with Saint Joseph’s.
The Terps and Hawks showcased a total of 32 goals. Maryland snuck away with a 17-15 win at Sweeney Field.
Maryland was able to feature its depth with multiple scorers from a range of positions and experience levels. The scorers included Kayla Gilmore, Kori Edmondson, Ava Meyn, Keeley Block, Lauren Lapointe, Emma Abbazia, Lexi Dupcak and Kristen Shanahan.
Lauren Lapointe led the offense once again with five goals. Lapointe is now the point leader for the Terps after her scoring plays in this game.
The Hawks saw three key players make a statement on the field: Alexa Capazolli, Kate Fuhrman, and Riley Miller. Capazolli and Miller were both assisted by Fuhrman two times.
The Hawks scored the most they have ever scored against Maryland in the five-game series between the two teams.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Maryland looked like it could cruise to an easy win f after creating a 5-1 lead. That clearly wasn’t the case.
Two minutes left in the first quarter, the Hawks scored back-to-back goals and then continued it into the second quarter, closing the gap to only one.
The entire game saw a seesaw of possession and scoring. Maryland’s only large gap on Saint Joseph’s was saves; goalkeeper JJ Suriano had 10, while the Hawks’ two goalies only had two.
Saint Joseph’s was beating Maryland in almost every offensive category.
A little more than four minutes in, Keeley Block scored Maryland’s first goal on a penalty shot.
Soon after that first goal, the Hawks’ Megan Sanelli scored, tying things up early in the first quarter.
Ava Meyn earned the fourth collegiate goal of her career after the third draw of the game, putting the Terps back in the lead.
Maryland continued to create that lead with a shot from Emma Abbazia, the first goal of this season for her, and Meyn scored again off Neve O’Ferral’s first point of the season.
O’Ferral had her second point of the season on an assist to Kristen Shanahan, the Terps continuing a strong lead streak after a close game in the first 10 minutes.
Saint Joseph’s Riley Miller, a steady player for the Hawks, attempted to slowly close the gap with a shot near the end of the first quarter, assisted by Kate Furhman, who is the team’s leader in points.
Lapointe got a majority of her goals in the second half, helping the Terps keep some distance from the Hawks after Maryland went out of the first half only up by two.
Capazolli from Saint Joseph’s scored twice in the second quarter, once from an assist from Furhman, making her the team’s point leader with 190 points in her career.
The fourth quarter saw Maryland holding on to its lead despite Saint Joseph’s attempting to come back again and again. Saint Joseph’s shot more, nine to Maryland’s six shots, but it wasn’t enough.
Maryland ended the game winning, but won by fewer goals than they have in the past. Maryland will need to be prepared to go into games expecting the unexpected.
