By Ryan Homler

The Maryland Terrapins Women’s Lacrosse team defeated the No. 3 Florida Gators by a score of 18-8 on Wednesday afternoon in College Park. The win improved their record to 10-0 overall and 5-0 against ranked opponents.

For the Terps, senior Zoe Stukenberg’s offense and sophomore Megan Taylor’s defense stole the show during the dominant victory.

Stukenberg once again had an impressive day as she notches five goals for the Terps to lead the offensive attack that continues to put up points with ease. This was the midfielder’s second game this season in which she had five scores.

However, Stukenberg did get a little help from three of her teammates as freshman Brindi Griffin, sophomore Caroline Steele and junior Megan Whittle all recorded hat tricks scoring three goals a piece. Maryland’s 18 goals is the second highest total the team has achieved this season.

Not to be outdone by her offense, goalie Megan Taylor had a career day in the net for the Terps. Taylor finished with a career high 20 saves and a save percentage of .714 as she only gave up eight goals to a Florida squad that entered the game averaging double that total.

The Gators were led by sophomore Lindsey Ronbeck who finished with four goals, but sophomore goalie Haley Hicklen struggles put the game out of reach for Florida as she finished with a save percentage of only .280.

This was Maryland’s fifth victory over a ranked opponent and third against teams ranked in the top five. The Terps will put their undefeated record on the line when they welcome Michigan to College Park on Saturday, April 1. The Big Ten matchup will take place at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex at 2 p.m.