No. 13 Maryland women’s lacrosse battles No. 2 Northwestern in Big Ten Championship

(Photograph courtesy of Maryland Athletics.)

The Terps (nine-5 B1G) will face the Wildcats (12-0 B1G) for the third fourth dimension this season, simply this time around the winner volition hoist the Big X Championship trophy.

Northwestern dominated the kickoff 2 battles betwixt the teams, defeating Maryland by scores of 25-12 and 20-x in Evanston. However, Maryland played them closely in the beginning half of the 2d game, giving them a reason to exist confident going into Sunday'southward game.

"That first half when we were tied at halftime showed u.s.a. that we tin hang with them and beat them," senior midfielder Grace Griffin said. "Nosotros want to hang on to that and get that for a full 60 minutes rather than simply 30."

If the Terps are to hang with the Wildcats for a full 60 minutes, they will take to play their best game of the season on both sides of the ball. Northwestern has non won a game past less than four goals the unabridged season and is coming off of a 10-goal victory against Rutgers.

The Wildcats are the highest scoring offense in the country, averaging over twenty goals a game. Junior attacker Izzy Scane leads the nation in goals with 70, including 14 confronting Maryland over two games. Senior attacker Lauren Gilbert also has 50 goals this flavor, skilful for 12th in the country.

It is impossible to stop the Northwestern criminal offence like Maryland did to Hopkins in the commencement half, but the Terps can wearisome them down. By controlling possession and limiting turnovers similar they did in the first half of the second game, Maryland can limit the opportunities that the Wildcats get on criminal offense.

Turnovers and clears were ii areas in which Maryland excelled in on Friday night against Hopkins, an effort they volition need to replicate if they want to take whatsoever chance in this game.

"Turnovers were and so much better than they have been all flavor," senior defender Lizzie Colson said after the Hopkins victory. "Nosotros really took care of the ball in clears and that was something that really helped us. Just getting the ball into our attacking hands is huge."

Not simply will Maryland take to limit the opportunities of Northwestern, they volition take to convert on their own scoring chances. Head coach Cathy Reese has talked all year about getting to 50% shooting; if in that location was always a game to hit that mark, information technology'south this i.

Maryland's criminal offense has shown that they tin can be elite at times this season. Led by Hannah Leubecker, Brindi Griffin, and Grace Griffin, information technology is essential that the Terps offense tin can finish on the opportunities that they generate for themselves.

Another area in which Maryland needs to better upon from the first two games is giving up large scoring runs. In the first game, Northwestern scored four unanswered goals three separate times and in the second game they went on an eleven-0 run in the second half.

Reese will need her seniors to weather the tempest and prevent things from getting out of hand when the Terps inevitably give up a few goals in a row.

Maryland will need to play an almost perfect game to beat out Northwestern on Sunday, simply history has shown that anything can happen when these two teams meet in the postseason.

At the end of the solar day, the Terps are entering this game with almost nothing to lose while Northwestern has an undefeated flavour on the line.

"This has been a rivalry that has built a lot of emotion and a lot of excitement behind it," Reese said. "These past few games we've played with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. This year has been tough, and so we need to really bask this and enjoy the moment."

The championship game will air on Lord's day, May 1 at apex on the Big Ten Network.

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Source: http://wmucsports.net/no-13-maryland-womens-lacrosse-battles-no-2-northwestern-in-big-ten-championship/

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