Tewaaraton finalist Taylor Cummings posted five goals against Duke on Saturday.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Tewaaraton Award finalist Taylor Cummings scored five goals to lead Maryland to a decisive 15-8 win against rival Duke Saturday in the quarterfinals of the 2014 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
Cummings combined with senior Beth Glaros to compile eight goals and 11 draw controls to help Maryland (21-1) advance to the national semifinals for a sixth-consecutive season. Kelly McPartland chipped in with a hat trick and Brooke Griffin, Zoe Stukenberg, Kristen Lamon and Erin Collins all added one score as the Terps completed their 15th perfect season at home.
Glaros opened the scoring for Maryland with an assisted tally from McPartland at 27:14 before Maddy Morrissey answered for Duke five minutes later for a tie game. Maryland countered with back-to-back goals by Collins and Cummings 19 seconds apart at the 22-minute mark for a 3-1 Terp advantage.
Duke made it a one-goal contest with a tally by Brigid Smith at 20:17 before the Terps mustered a punishing 3-0 run, fueled by scores from Lamon, Glaros and Cummings, for a 6-2 lead with 18 minutes remaining in the first period.
The Blue Devils posted their third goal of the contest with a Kerrin Maurer score in traffic at the 15:24 mark. Following a lengthy scoring lull, Griffin put the Terps up by four with a top-shelf goal with 2:27 left in the period before a late Stukenberg free position score and tally by McPartland bumped the Maryland advantage to 9-3 at the break.
Cummings opened the second half scoring, courtesy of a great look by Stukenberg, with a goal 1:36 into the half. The Ellicott City, Md., product backed that up with a free position score for an 11-3 Maryland lead before McPartland extended it to nine with a transition score at 27:50.
Duke finally found the back of the net for a fourth score when Maurer dove for a goal at 26:20 to snap a nearly 18-minute scoreless stretch for the Blue Devils. After a second consecutive Duke goal, Cummings posted her fifth goal of the game with an iso-look at 20:16 as the Terps stretched the lead to seven with about 20 minutes to play in the game.
McPartland extended the advantage to nine with a masterful finish at 17:44 before Smith answered for the Blue Devils 2:30 later as Duke managed to outscore the Terps 3-1 in the final 15:15 of the match, but the damage was done, and Maryland picked up the win to earn its 22nd Final Four berth in program history.
“We are really excited to earn a trip to the [national semifinals],” head coach Cathy Reese said. “I give a lot of credit to Duke. We knew it was going to be hard-fought out there on the field and I’m really proud of our players and how they stepped up today and rose to the challenge and put ourselves in a position to play next weekend.”
