NCAA Tournament second round preview: No. 3-seed Maryland women’s lacrosse vs Rutgers

No. 3-seed Maryland women’s lacrosse returns to postseason play after a two-week hiatus from the field. But despite the extended time away from competition, the Terps say they feel more connected than ever.

The heart and soul of Maryland’s defense, JJ Suriano, particularly appreciated the bonding time she spent with her teammates.

“It gets pretty stressful this time of year, so having that time together, just to goof around and see each other’s more relaxed side has been great,” Suriano said.

The NCAA Tournament — what head coach Cathy Reese calls “season three” — will be sure to test the Terps’ connection. Maryland looks to break out of its quarterfinal cycle, a round it hasn’t passed since 2019.

But to get there, the Terps will need to silence Rutgers for the second time this season in College Park.

Maryland’s quest for a 16th national title begins Sunday at 12 p.m. in SECU Stadium where the game will stream on ESPN Plus.

What happened last time

When these teams met in the regular season, Maryland was in near-perfect form. The Terps held the No. 1 spot in the nation in the IWLCA rankings and were the only undefeated team in the country at 12-0. Coming off a narrow 14-13 win over then-No. 21 Penn State, Maryland was eager to maintain its spotless record.

The Terps got off to a blazing start, jumping out to a 12-3 lead by the end of the first half. The explosion was driven by a diverse scoring attack — eight different Maryland players scored in the contest.

“It just shows how lethal we are from top to bottom,” Kori Edmondson said after the bout. “We’re super deep. And I think that just shows overall where we are as a team. We can lean on anyone.”

The Terps’ top scorer on its senior day was junior attacker Lauren LaPointe, whose four goals led the way in Maryland’s highest-scoring game of the season.

The backline also had one of its best halves all season, giving up just 11 first-half shots that resulted in six Suriano saves. Maryland’s graduating defenders made a particularly large impact on their senior day.

The Terps also stayed out of foul trouble, only allowing three free positions throughout the contest, all of them taking place in the fourth quarter. Maryland did commit 13 turnovers, but it isolated the errors throughout the game and limited Rutgers’ offensive possessions.

Despite being outscored in the second half, where its scoring production was cut in half, the Terps cruised to a comfortable 18-11 victory in The Shell.