Terps Rally Past Orange

By Kerry Bretti

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- The No 3. Orange hosted No. 1 Maryland Saturday in the Carrier Dome in a women's lacrosse showdown. While the visiting Terrapins led most of the game, and ended up winning 14-9, the Orange had a brief second half lead. Then Maryland took control. It was the 19th time in 20 meetings that Maryland has beaten the Orange.

"It was a dog fight until they put a couple of nails in the coffin,"Syracuse coach Gary Gait said.

Close first half

Maryland started fast, scoring the first three goals before Syracuse answered to cut the lead to 3-2. 

After a 15-minute drought for both teams,the Terps opened it to 4-2 on a Caroline Wannen free position shot.

The last 2:43 of the half saw a flurry of scoring, with the Orange's Halle Majorana, Riley Donahue and Kayla Treanor netting three straight to give Syracuse a 5-4 lead with under a minute left.

But the Terrapins turned it on, with Taylor Hensh and Jen Giles dashing through the Syracuse defense and scoring, giving Maryland a 6-5 lead at the half.

Maryland's scoring was led by Hensh, who came off the bench to produce four goals and one assist. Two-time Tewaaraton Award winner Taylor Cummings was second on the Terps’ scoring list with a hat trick and third was Giles who added two goals. 

One last Orange Comeback before Terps Takeover

Erica Bodt tied it for Syracuse with 24:17 left in the second half and Treanor put the Orange ahead at 7-6 a minute-and-a-half later. It was the last Syracuse lead and it did not last long.

Just over a minute later, Hensh tied it up and Maryland went on an 8-1 run over the course of 17 and a half minutes. The Terps capitalized on seven of 11 free positions.

“That’s the number one team in the country,” Syracuse coach Gary Gait said. “They came in and gave us more than we could handle today. Every time we rallied they would rally back. I think their experience came through there in the second half.”

Treanor and Majorana lead Orange

Syracuse’s scoring was led by Kayla Treanor with a hat trick, followed by Halle Majorana who added two goals and two assists. The Orange led twice for a combined total of one minute and 34 seconds. The Orange only capitalized on one of six free positions.

Syracuse turned the ball over 18 times, which Gait said was a key factor in the loss.

“I think we had untimely turnovers,” Gait said. “We were doing some things we don’t normally do on the offensive end of the field in terms of quality of our shots, eight meter selection and things like that. I think the team understands how they played today. It wasn’t their best game.”

Defense key for Maryland

Maryland’s defense was stingy holding Syracuse’s high-powered offense to only nine goals on 20 shots. The Terps caused ten turnovers and picked up 21 ground balls. Maryland’s defense was anchored by freshman goalkeeper Megan Taylor. Taylor made seven saves of 16 shots on goal.

“I thought we played well defensively especially in the second half,” Maryland coach Kathy Reese said. “Our freshman goalie, Megan Taylor, her first time she’s seeing some of these offensive players like Halle and Kayla and I thought she did a nice job anchoring our defense. This is a tough place to play and she did a really good just stepping up to the plate.”

Allie Murray played in goal for the Orange, saving seven of 21 shots on goal. Syracuse tallied 12 caused turnovers and picked up 19 ground balls. The Orange committed 44 fouls against the Terps. Both teams cleared successfully 13 of 17 times.

Cummings proved to be Treanor’s biggest competitor on the draw circle thus far, but the Orange still won in draw controls; 14-11.

Next

With the win, Maryland improves to 5-0 on the season while Syracuse falls to 6-2. Maryland travels to

Gainesville to play Florida on March 19 and Syracuse plays at Harvard on March 16. Florida gave 

Syracuse its only previous loss, in overtime at the Carrier Dome, March 1.