No. 13 Maryland women’s lacrosse kicks off Big Ten Tournament against Michigan
(Photograph courtesy of Maryland Athletics.)
The No. 2 seed Terps (7-5 B1G) will take on the No. vii seed Michigan Wolverines (3-8 B1G) in the kickoff round of the Large X Tournament on Thursday.
The two teams faced off twice in late February in College Park with Maryland taking both matchups by scores of 17-thirteen and 12-9. Michigan won each of its next three games after losing to Maryland twice, merely then dropped its final v games of the regular season.
It'due south been xi days since Maryland has last played a game, a 16-14 road loss to Rutgers. The Terps have used this interruption to refocus and continue emphasizing some areas where they have struggled this year, including taking care of the ball and executing on open looks offensively.
"This break has been really good for u.s. so that we tin reset and refocus on ourselves," head coach Cathy Reese said on Wed. "It was important that nosotros had the chance to revisit the core principles and fundamentals on both offense and defense."
In those February battles confronting Michigan, the Terps had the offense rolling. Their 17 goals in the get-go game remains their highest full on the season while their 12 goals in the 2d game were scored despite poor weather conditions.
Sophomore attacker Hannah Leubecker was the star of that weekend series. Leubecker acquired problems for the Wolverines all weekend, scoring 10 goals including seven in the first game. Michigan will certainly be guarding her closely, non wanting to let her beat them over again.
Leubecker is one of many younger players on this Maryland roster that volition be making their Big Ten Tournament debuts this weekend. The Terps have relied significantly on young talent this flavour and at times, that inexperience has shown.
"Mainly to only savour every moment," senior defender Lizzie Colson said when asked what advice she's been giving to the younger players. "But have fun with it but reminding them that we're hither to compete and play at the highest level."
Colson has been an anchor on the defensive side of the ball all season, leading the Big Ten in both basis assurance and caused turnovers.
She is also i of 3 Maryland starters that volition be playing in their concluding Big Ten Tournament, with the others being Brindi Griffin and Hannah Warther. Reese will certainly be relying on her seniors this weekend to set an example for the younger girls.
"I recollect nosotros'll rely a lot on our leadership from Lizzie, Brindi, Grace [Griffin], and Hannah," Reese said. "Those girls really need to pace up and lead the style for everybody else to know what information technology takes to compete in a tournament setting."
The Terps will face up a Michigan team that has struggled mightily against Big Ten competition, but plays very physical and gave Maryland two tough games earlier in the season.
Grad student midfielder Molly Garrett leads the Wolverines with 33 goals on the season while senior attacker Caitlin Muir leads the team in points with 41. All the same, Michigan's offense hasn't been explosive this flavor as the Wolverines oasis't scored over 13 goals in a game this season.
Despite Maryland's ii early flavor victories against Michigan, no wins have come easy for the Terps and so far this flavor and that certainly won't alter come tournament time.
The game will air at 5 p.m. on the Big Ten Network from Panzer Stadium at Penn State.
Source: http://wmucsports.net/no-13-maryland-womens-lacrosse-kicks-off-big-ten-tournament-against-michigan/
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