Having beaten the UMBC Retrievers on Wednesday night, Maryland women’s lacrosse had just two days rest before its next game against Hofstra. Despite a slow start, the Terrapins seemed unaffected by the short time frame to roll past the Pride with a 17-10 victory on Saturday afternoon.
She struggled out of the gate, but Megan Whittle was alone atop the box score once again when it was all said and done. With five goals and two assists, her seven points led the team for the fourth time in five games.
The surprise performance of the game came from Brindi Griffin. The sophomore scored three goals in the first half, giving the attacker her third career hat trick and first of the 2018 season. Freshman Grace Griffin also impressed with two goals of her own.
Saturday’s matinee got off to an ominous start for Maryland, as the Pride got the first score of the game less than 90 seconds into the contest. Griffin came through with her third goal of the season to tie it up, but Hofstra kept finding holes in the Terrapins defense to get the ball past Megan Taylor.
Down 3-2 with just over 17 minutes left, Maryland looked to its leading scorer to take over. Whittle forced a foul inside to get herself on the eight-meter line, and the senior wouldn’t waste the opportunity as she rifled one through to the back of the net.
Whittle had been stopped on her previous four shots, but the captain didn’t let that dissuade her from evening the score. That was the start of a five-goal run for the Terps, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Hofstra star attacker Alexa Mattera scored her 10th goal on the year to cut into the Terps’ lead, but Maryland responded with four straight scores to finish the first half up, 11-4.
Coming out of the break, the two teams went scoreless for a few minutes before Whittle once again showcased her talent. In a dead sprint from the midfield line, she raced by multiple Hofstra defenders to add to her team-lead in goals.
With an eight-goal lead and all the momentum in Maryland’s favor, the Pride found a way to fight back against the defending champions. Thanks to freshman Katie Whelan’s takeover, they scored five of the next six goals to make the score 13-9. But Maryland’s overwhelming edge in talent would win out in the long run, as Whittle, Jen Giles and Nikki Sliwak all scored late to put the game out of reach.
Maryland gets a full week off before its next game against Syracuse. The Terps will face off against the Orange on Sunday, March 11 at 1 p.m.
Three things to know
1. You can’t stop Megan Whittle. It was far from her best game of the season (she took a whopping 14 shots) but the senior all but wrapped up another Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award with her performance. Even on what could only be considered an off day, she still found a way to take the game over.
2. Megan Taylor bounced back strong. A big storyline this season has been the inability of the defense and goalie to match last year’s production. And while allowing 10 goals isn’t necessarily something to write home about, the junior saved 13 shots for a .565 save percentage, easily surpassing her season mark of .353.
3. Time to rest. Playing two games in a span of three and a half days certainly isn’t easy, but Maryland found a way to win both decisively. The Terps won’t play again until next Sunday, giving them plenty of time to rest up and come back strong.