Terrapins forced to work to fend off pesky Scarlet Knights

May leads offense with 2 goals, 3 assists

COLLEGE PARK — On a day when the Maryland women’s lacrosse program honored nine seniors in a pregame ceremony, Rutgers refused to play the role of sacrificial lamb.

The No. 11 Terps wasted a five-goal advantage in the first half and could only watch as a pesky Scarlet Knights squad tied the score at 12-12 with a little more than six minutes left in regulation. But Maryland got two goals in the final four minutes to escape with a 14-12 victory Thursday evening at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

Sophomore attacker Libby May (Hereford) led Maryland (6-3 overall and in the Big Ten) with five points on two goals and three assists, and four other players manufactured multiple-point outings. But sophomore attacker Hannah Leubecker, who led the offense in goals (35) and points (36), was limited to one goal on eight shots, and the team did not look sharp in its first game since suffering a two-game sweep by No. 2 Northwestern on

March 27 and 29.

“Obviously, we’re happy that we came out with this win, but I don’t think we’re going to coming out of this super-hyped up,” said fifthyear senior midfielder Hannah Warther, who scored a team-high four goals. “We still have a lot of stuff to work on. We haven’t played a whole 60 minutes of greatness. We’ve seen some signs of greatness throughout each of our games, but we definitely have a lot to improve on, and we’re looking forward to playing a full 60 minutes of Maryland lacrosse.”

The Terps committed 17 turnovers. They also controlled only 12 draws (their third-lowest total of the season) to the Scarlet Knights’ 15. Maryland maintained an advantage in ground balls (23-18) and saves (11-4), but this may not have been the type of showing the team would have liked before visiting No. 20 Penn State (3-6-, 3-6), which upended the Terps, 15-13, on Feb. 21.

The Terps opened the second half with two quick goals to gain a three-goal cushion and then repeated that effort to take a 12-9 lead with 11:56 remaining. But junior attacker Marin Hartshorn, the younger sister of former Maryland standout midfielder Kali Hartshorn, assisted on three straight Scarlet Knights goals with senior attacker Hannah Hollingsworth registering the equalizer for a 12-12 score with 6:06 left in regulation.

Maryland scored twice to pull away, but may have benefited from some fortunate circumstances. Sophomore midfielder Shaylan Ahearn’s free-position shot appeared to get deflected, but still had enough mustard to bloop over freshman goalkeeper Sophia Cardello (four saves) and into the net with 3:59 left.

Rutgers won the ensuing draw, but Ahearn knocked down a pass by senior midfielder Julia Lytle, and the Terps had the ball with 86 seconds left on the shot clock and 2:23 left on the game clock. In an attempt to apply pressure, Cardello left the cage to try to grab a loose ball, but senior attacker Catie May (McDonogh) got there first and fed fifth-year senior attacker Brindi Griffin (McDonogh) for an empty-net goal.