The University of Maryland received the state?s lone invitation to the NCAA women?s lacrosse tournament, giving the Terps 17 consecutive postseason bids.
Winners of 10 national titles, Maryland (12-7) travels to No. 5 North Carolina (12-5) for its first-round game Sunday. The Tar Heels beat the Terps, 11-9, on April 15 in Chapel Hill. The field was announced Monday night.
Coach Cindy Timchal has a balanced Maryland squad that includes 20 players with 20 or more points. Among those are Deila Cox (56 goals, 22 assists), Century graduate Kelly Kasper (43, 25) and former Broadneck standout Brooke Richards (16, 7).
North Carolina was the regular season co-champs. The Tar Heels will face the Terps with a number of players from Maryland themselves, including Brooke Dieringer (St. Mary?s) and Christina Juras (McDonogh).
No. 8 James Madison needs solid play from players such as Hammond?s Kelly Berger (55, 31) and Mount Hebron?s Maria Bosica (20, 12) for its tournament run which begins with a home game Sunday at 1 p.m. against Richmond (16-3). The Spiders have Catonsville?s Claire Cunniff (16, 1) and St. Mary?s Jenna Hubbard (16, 2).
“I was shocked, to be honest with you,” Richmond coach Sue Murphy said of her seeding, which was better than last year. “We are very excited. I think it is going to be a fantastic game.”
“It was tremendous for us to get one of the eight seeds, especially after working so hard to get wins in our last three games against Georgetown and then Towson and Hofstra to win the (CAA) title,” James Madison coach Kellie Young said Tuesday.
Duke (16-2) secured the No. 1 seed, thanks to contributions from players such as Maryvale graduates Katie Chrest (56, 14) and Megan Huether (50, 6), and former Mount Hebron standout Kristen Waagbo (41, 29). The Blue Devils will host Holy Cross (14-6) at 2 p.m. Sunday.
No. 2 Virginia (15-3) has a defense that includes Jessy Morgan (McDonogh) and goalie Ginger Miles (Roosevelt of Greenbelt). The Cavaliers host Princeton (11-5) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS
» Stanford (12-5) became the first West Coast team to earn a tournament bid. The Cardinal travel to take on defending champion and No. 4 Northwestern (16-1). Stanford is coached by Pikesville High and Maryland alumna Michele Uhlfelder while Northwestern is coached by Kelly Almonte Hiller, a former Terp herself. Stanford?s inclusion meant Johns Hopkins was left out of the 16-team field.
» While Maryland is the lone state school to make the tournament, locally-based players should make a huge impact this postseason. In all, 136 players from Maryland are on postseason rosters.
