Maryland women’s lacrosse vs. Penn preview

Two days after a dominant victory over Johns Hopkins, Maryland women’s lacrosse welcomes No. 11 Penn to College Park Wednesday night. The Quakers are coming off a 16-6 win over Duke, and the last time these teams played Maryland beat Penn 12-8 last season.

No. 11 Pennsylvania Quakers (6-1)

Head Coach Karin Corbett. Corbett has been the Quakers head coach for 17 seasons, compiling over 190 wins since 2000. She’s led Penn to nine Ivy League championships, three national semifinals, and a championship game appearance.

Players to Watch

Britt Brown, 5’7, Goalkeeper, No. 52. Penn’s net-minder has had a strong season thus far, playing every minute for the Quakers. Her .565 save percentage is fourth-best in the country and trails Maryland’s Megan Taylor by only .008 points.

Alex Condon, 5’6, Midfield, No. 30. Penn’s leader in points with 31, Condon has scored 22 goals in seven games this season. The junior has collected 11 ground balls and caused 17 turnovers, and is coming off a performance where she tallied five points in win against Duke.

Strength

Defense. Similar to Johns Hopkins last week, Maryland will once again play a team that excels at preventing goals. The Quakers’ 7.71 goals allowed per game is sixth best in the country, and Penn has only allowed 54 goals all year. A good defense has yet to stop the Terps, so this will just be another test for Maryland’s potent offense.

Weakness

Free position goals. Penn has only scored 12 goals on 34 free position attempts for a .353 percentage, good for 82nd in the country. On the other hand, Maryland has only allowed three goals on the last 20 free position attempts against, so Penn will likely struggle here again on Wednesday.

Three Things to Watch

1. Will Megan Taylor play? Maryland’s goalkeeper was a late scratch from their win vs. Johns Hopkins due to injury. While backup Emily Kift was fantastic in that game, Taylor is still the heartbeat of this team and makes life easier on everyone else.
2. Another ranked opponent. This will be the fifth team Maryland faces that is currently ranked in the top 20. So far, they have been on another level, but as the competition gets better the games will only get tougher.
3. Short rest. The Terps have a quick turnaround, only getting two days of rest between games. Not having much time to prepare for a ranked opponent isn’t an ideal scenario for any team, but nothing has stopped Maryland thus far, so there is no reason to believe the short rest will have any effect.