Lady Terps win third title in four years.
Men break 42 year drought.
On Memorial Day, Maryland Lacrosse climbed to the top of the mountain in just about every way possible.
On Sunday the Lady Terps won their 13th national championship, and their third in the last four seasons. During the past four years, the women have compiled a record of 89-3, including a 23-0 record this season.
Head coach Cathy Reese has built an unbelievable record of 228-15 in 11 seasons, and since moving to the Big Ten, the Lady Terps are undefeated in conference play.
This year in the tournament the Lady Terps defeated High Point 21-6 in round one, but just hung on in the quarter finals versus #8 Stony Brook 13-12. The semi-finals saw them defeat Big 10 rival Penn State 20-10.
In the final on Sunday, the Lady Terps defeated a very strong Boston College team 16-13. Caroline Steele scored six times, Taylor Hensh tallied three and Tewaaraton Award winner Zoe Stuckenberg had three assists. Kenzie Kent led all scorers with 10 points (5G/5A) for Boston College.
The excitement didn’t end there. The Maryland mens team was making their third appearance in three years. In 2015 they fell to Denver in the title game 10-5 and last year lost a heartbreaker in overtime to North Carolina 14-13.
This year Maryland was on a mission. After disposing of Bryant 13-10, the Terps embarrassed Albany in the quarter finals 18-9. Then came the rematch from 2015. Maryland defeated Denver 9-8 in a game that came down to the final seconds.
In the finals, Maryland faced Ohio State, another Big 10 match-up. The third time was a charm as the Terps ended a 42 year drought by capturing their third national championship.
Head coach John Tillman has compiled a 67-17 record in his five years Four of those seasons he coached one of the best players in Matt Rambo, who won the 2017 Tewaaraton Award for the men.
Going into 2018, can the Lady Terps continue their dominance, and after finally breaking the 42 year curse, can the men make another run for possible back-to-back titles?
Once again, just like 2016 (North Carolina), the mens and womens’ NCAA lacrosse champions are from the same college: this year, the University of Maryland.
