Maryland Women Overpower Colgate

Maryland 20, Colgate 4

Midway through the second half of Maryland's 20-4 victory over Colgate in the first round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament yesterday, Coach Cathy Reese called a timeout because she was unhappy that the second-seeded Terrapins kept throwing away the ball on offense. It didn't matter that they held a 15-goal lead at the time; Reese wanted her players to maintain their focus and stay sharp.

"We wanted to make sure in the second half that we weren't just trying to go in and just take shots to take shots," said Reese, whose team will host seventh-seeded Syracuse in the quarterfinals on Saturday at noon. "We wanted to make sure that we were able to handle the pressure that this team was going to step out and put on us."

The Terrapins (20-0) dominated the Patriot League champion from the start; they won the opening draw and promptly turned it into a goal by freshman Karri Ellen Johnson (Broadneck) 39 seconds into the game. She added two more goals before the game was even five minutes old.

During one 20-second span, Maryland's three national team players each scored a goal: junior Caitlyn McFadden (United States), sophomore Laura Merrifield (England) and sophomore Sarah Mollison (Australia). Merrifield's score was representative of the Terrapins' physical superiority; the 6-foot-1 midfielder leapt to win the draw, then charged down the field and fired a shot into the net.

Maryland led 10-0 after senior Alex Mavris (Chesapeake) scored with 16 minutes 58 seconds left in the first half, and the rest of the game was played with a running clock. (NCAA rules dictate that the clock does not stop when a team is leading by 10 goals or more.) The Terrapins had 15 goals at halftime, one shy of the tournament record for goals in a half, and had outshot the Raiders, 32-3.

"Here's the bottom line: You get to the NCAA tournament, and all the teams that are here deserve to be here," Reese said. "It didn't matter who we were playing. Our focus is on us, and showing what we're capable of. I thought that first half was a great example of pure Maryland lacrosse."

The Raiders (14-5), who didn't register their first shot until nearly seven minutes had elapsed, finally got on the scoreboard early in the second half. Senior defender Maddie Kearns (Stone Ridge) scored Colgate's final goal.

"The second half was definitely really mental," said McFadden, who finished with two goals and two assists. "Coming out in the beginning, we didn't really have that focus. After the timeout we talked about getting our heads in it, and making smart passes, being really aware on offense, and taking care of the ball."

-- DUKE 15, VIRGINIA 13: The No. 10 Cavaliers trailed by four midway through the second half, before scoring eight of the final 10 goals in regulation to force overtime. Senior all-American Ashley McCulloch had three points in the run, while junior Brittany Kalkstein caused a turnover with 3:15 remaining, setting up senior all-American Blair Weymouth to cap off the streak with a free position goal with 2:34 left in regulation.

Duke won the opening draw of overtime and controlled the possession, before Lindsay Gilbride slipped a shot into the net 2:22 into the extra period. The Blue Devils then scored on an open net with five seconds remaining to secure the two-goal victory.

-- PRINCETON 15, GEORGETOWN 9: The Hoyas (13-6) pulled within a goal near the end of the first half, 8-7, but couldn't keep it close in the second. Molly Ford and Ashby Kaestner each scored three goals for Georgetown.