No. 7 Maryland women’s lacrosse drops season opener to No. 6 Syracuse, 15-9

The Terps had fallen just once previously in their first game since 2006.

No. 7 Maryland women’s lacrosse found itself down 11-6 late in the third quarter, looking for any momentum to mount a comeback against No. 6 Syracuse. In a last ditch effort to slow the Orange’s offense, head coach Cathy Reese turned to freshman goalie Julia Ward.

But she was unable to provide the Terps with any answers, giving up two goals in her five minutes of action. Reese reinserted goalie JJ Suriano to open the fourth quarter.

Nothing worked in net for Maryland. The Terps fell, 15-9, to Syracuse Saturday in their season opener. Maryland has lost three of its last four meetings with the Orange.

“We didn’t make a ton of saves today, but also some of them we should have made,” Reese said. “Some of them we just didn’t put our goalies in a great position to make saves.”

The Terps lost two key pieces — Meghan Ball and goalie Emily Sterling — in their defense this offseason. That was evident right away, as Syracuse’s high-powered offense gave the Terps problems. The Orange entered Saturday’s contest with one of the best attacks in the nation, scoring 21 goals in their season opener.

“Syracuse is a tough team coming off of a great Final Four season, and they returned a lot more of their scoring than we did,” Reese said. “We were real hesitant in the beginning. We started to get better as the game went on. ... But all across the board, we’re really brand new.”

Sterling’s departure forced Maryland to turn to a new starting goalie, Suriano. In her first career appearance, she struggled mightily, recording four saves and allowing 12 goals.

Kennedy Major was given the task of slowing down Syracuse attacker Emma Ward, but she couldn’t contain the graduate student. Emma Ward had her way all game long, recording an early hat trick midway through the first quarter. She finished with three goals and four assists.

With 7:09 left in the opening period, Emma Ward took Major 1-on-1. She circled around the net and without even looking at the goal, rifled a nifty behind-the-back shot past Suriano. The goal was Emma Ward’s third of the game, extending the Orange’s advantage to four.

However, it was her counterpart — attacker Olivia Adamson — that broke the deadlock. Just under two minutes after Maryland tied the game at one, Adamson found the back of the net. She totaled four goals on six shots.

“We just need to do a better job sticking to our defensive game plan, and we were slow to make adjustments,” Reese said. “It took us until midway through the first half to kind of make the adjustments that we should have started out with.”

On the other side, Jordyn Lipkin was the catalyst for Maryland’s attack in the first quarter. She answered the bell on multiple occasions, scoring the Terps’ first two goals and helping them get within striking distance late in the period. Maryland ended the first quarter with two consecutive goals, lessening its deficit to two goals.

The Terps looked to carry the momentum into the second period. Instead, Syracuse came out of the break firing on all cylinders. Three different goal scorers gave the Orange their biggest lead of the game at the time.

But Kori Edmondson took advantage of Syracuse’s nine first-half fouls. She found the back of the net on all three of her free-position attempts, including one with 71 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to four. Edmondson finished with four goals.

Anytime Maryland tried to get back in the game, the Orange had a response. And that remained true coming out of the break, as they scored two goals in the span of three minutes. The latter gave freshman midfielder Caroline Trinkaus a hat trick in just her second collegiate game.

A five-goal scoring output for Syracuse in the third quarter extended its lead to seven. And while Maryland scored three goals in the final quarter, it was too little, too late.

The lone bright spot for the Terps was its faceoff unit, as they won 16 of the 28 draw controls. However, Maryland couldn’t take advantage of that success, looking sloppy on both ends of the field in the defeat.

Three things to know

1. A game of firsts. Saturday’s contest saw a lot of freshman make their collegiate debuts. Shelby Sullivan scored her first collegiate goal, while Kayla Gilmore was Maryland’s faceoff specialist. Julia Ward, Emma Abbazia and Devin Livingston also saw action.

“I loved what I saw from Kayla, Devin and Shelby in there,” Reese said. “We got a lot of them right now and they’re going to really grow to be some great players. I’m super confident in all of them, but the experience is going to be a big piece for us.”

2. New faces on attack. The Terps started a completely new frontline after losing all three starters from last season, including top goalscorer Hannah Leubecker. Maisy Clevenger filled in her sister’s shoes, scoring two goals on six shots.

3. Looking ahead. Maryland’s next three contests come against unranked opponents. The stretch starts on Tuesday, as it hosts Georgetown (1-1).

“As long as we aren’t dwelling on this, and letting them know [that] you’re going to make mistakes and just kind of have to move on from it,” Edmondson said. “You can’t really get this game back, as many of us want this game back, but you just have to move on from it.”

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