Maryland Women's Lacrosse NCAA Tournament Second Round Preview
While Maryland men's lacrosse failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 22 years, the Terps' women's lacrosse squad not only qualified, but also earned home field advantage for a fantastic 2026 campaign.
Maryland finished the regular season 14-2 (6-2) before advancing to the Big Ten Championship game, where they lost to Northwestern in an overtime heartbreaker.
Nevertheless, Maryland easily earned their NCAA-best 36th consecutive appearance in the Tournament as the 3-seed.
Regular Season Recap
Head coach Cathy Reese's team went 5-2 against ranked opponents, with victories over Syracuse, Virginia, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, and Penn State.
Junior attack Lauren LaPointe led the team with 59 goals, while senior midfielder Kori Edmondson and grad transfer Kristen Shanahan had 44 and 38, respectively.
LaPointe and Edmonson earned unanimous All-Big Ten First Team honors, and both were also among the five Terps to receive All-American status as well. Big Ten Goalie of the Year J.J. Suriano, midfielder Kayla Gilmore, and defense Maddy Sterling round out the group.
A Rutgers Rematch
Maryland defeated Rutgers 18-11 on April 4th, but after the Scarlet Knights squeezed past Princeton 12-11 on Friday, they'll get another shot at upsetting the Terps on their home grass.
Rutgers comes into the contest 11-8 overall, having been a one-and-done in the Big Ten Tournament. Their two ranked wins of the regular season ironically came against Maryland's only two losses: Ohio State and Michigan.
The Scarlet Knights are led by senior defense Katie Buck and sophomore attack Caroline Ling. Buck, a First-Team All-Big Ten selection, set a Rutgers single-season program record with 164 draw controls.
Meanwhile, Ling led the offense with 61 goals and 32 assists, earning Second-Team honors. Lily Dixon (50 assists), Kate Theofield (44 goals), and Hilary Elsner (34 goals) are the other top offensive producers.
Series History
This Second Round matchup is set to begin tomorrow, May 10 at 12pm. For those not heading to SECU Stadium, the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Terps hold an all-time 15-2 advantage over the Scarlet Knights, including a 7-1 mark at home. Their only defeats came in Piscataway in 2021, and at College Park during the 2024 Big Ten Quarterfinals. Maryland avenged the later loss during last year’s Quarterfinals with a 17-11 victory.
The winner of this contest will go on to play either Syracuse or Navy.
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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