The No. 2 Maryland women's lacrosse team (15-0, 5-0 B1G) fought back and battled the weather and a midgame venue change to defeat No. 5 Northwestern 17-13 and clinch at least a share of the Big Ten Regular Season title for the fifth year in a row.
Maryland came back from two three-goal deficits, first at 3-0 and then 7-4 to ultimately win the game. Senior Caroline Steele led Maryland offensively with five goals and one assist while graduate student Erica Evans tallied four goals in the effort.
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With the game tied at 12 and just under 13 minutes remaining, a lightning delay halted the game at the outdoor venue Martin Stadium. With the weather forecast not looking good, the game was moved indoors to Northwestern's indoor practice facility.
With tonightâs win we clinched at least a share of the @B1GLacrosse Regular Season Championship for the fifth year in a row!!
â Maryland Women's Lacrosse (@MarylandWLax) April 12, 2019
đđ˘ || #FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/21zTIag5z7
Indoors, Maryland scored the first three goals quickly to take a 15-12 leads. Senior Jen Giles scored her second of the game to give Maryland the 13-12 lead before Steele and junior Brindi Griffin scored the next two. Evans and junior Kali Hartshorn finished out the scoring to give the Terps a 17-13 win.
Junior Lizzie Colson tied a career-best with five groundballs while also causing two turnovers and recording three draw controls. Hartshorn led the effort on the draw with nine.
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The Terps went down 3-0 to face their biggest deficit of the season early before going down 4-1 and 7-4. Maryland used two goals by Evans and one by sophomore Grace Griffin to even the game at halftime. Before the game was moved indoors, the beginning of the second half was back and forth with both sides trading goals and big saves.
MARYLAND WINSâźď¸
â Maryland Women's Lacrosse (@MarylandWLax) April 12, 2019
No. 2 #Terps take down No. 5 Northwestern 17-13! #FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/9p15Dma6OM
Senior Megan Taylor was crucial to the Terps' success in the half, securing seven saves to only six goals allowed against the nation's leading offense. Taylor now has 143 saves to only 96 goals allowed this season, a .598 save percentage.
The win last night moved Maryland to 27-0 all-time in Big Ten regular season contests and clinched at least a share of the Regular Season title for the fifth year in a row. Maryland can clinch the Big Ten outright in the home finale against Johns Hopkins on April 27 at 4:30 p.m.
Next up, the Terps will travel to No. 23 Georgetown on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m.
