By Layne Litsinger
Saturday afternoon, the No. 1 Terps (7-0) maintained their undefeated win streak by dominating their first ever match 16-6 against the No. 6 ranked Florida Gators (6-3). Head Coach Cathy Reese also picked up her 200th career win.
The Terps had goals coming from six different players. Redshirt senior Brooke Griffin led the Terps in scoring with five goals. Senior Kelly McPartland and freshman Megan Whittle each scored hatricks, followed by junior Taylor Cummings and sophomore Zoe Stukenberg each contributing two goals, and senior Erin Collins notched one goal.
The Gators found the net first with Shannon Gilroy scoring, but the Terps immediately fired back. Goals by Collins and McPartland put the Terps up 2-1 in the first 5 minutes. Whittle and McPartland then both scored off of free positions, and Cummings scored off of an assist from Griffin. The Gator’s kept pace with the Terps with goals coming from Sammi Burgess and Molly Stevens.
Florida’s Carly Ross then scored, and Shannon Gilroy tied the game up at 5-5. The Terps then had four unanswered goals with Cummings and Whittle each scoring two, and Stukenberg scoring one to close out the half at 9-5.
As the second half started, the Terps came out ready, and completely dominated the Gator’s any chance of scoring.
The Terps continued their scoring streak with two early goals from McPartland and Griffin, followed by another goal by Stukenberg. Griffin finished out the scoring for the Terps with three more goals. The Gator’s added only one goal in the second half, for the final score of 16-6.
Redshirt Senior Goalie Alex Fitzpatrick had her seventh straight start for the Terps, and finished with seven saves.
The Terps host Penn at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex Wednesday March 18th at 7 p.m.
