March 27, 2008

By Brian Kapur The Diamondback

March 27, 2008

College Park, MD (UWIRE) -- On a pristine night for lacrosse, it was a tale of two halves.

The offenses came out running and gunning, but the Terrapin women's lacrosse team's first-half surge was better than Towson's second-half response. The Terps took just 28 seconds to score and raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 8:15 of the game, but they needed to milk a 12-2 first-half lead, while scoring just three second-half goals, to defeat the Tigers, 15-10.

"In the first half we started off strong, and in the second half we got a little too complacent," sophomore midfielder Caitlyn McFadden said. "We got too slow on our defense and let them run all over us."

Senior midfielder Dana Dobbie spurred the Terps early offensive. The co-ACC Player of the Week, coming off a seven-goal performance against Stanford, picked up right where she left off and scored three of her five goals during the run, including a behind-the-back flip shot.

The Terps' early offense explosion faded as two defensive lapses allowed the Tigers to score twice.

Coach Cathy Reese pulled out several starters, including senior midfielder Kelly Kasper and Dobbie, following the Tigers' second goal for a sideline conference.

"It was just making defensive adjustments," Reese said. "We were forcing them where we wanted, but our help wasn't there. We needed to make sure we were on the same page defensively."

When they entered back into the fray, the offense rekindled the earlier fire and reeled off six unanswered goals before halftime to give the Terps a commanding 10-goal lead at intermission.

The Terps relied on their first-half surge to secure the game. The offense stalled in the second half, as the Terps scored just three goals while allowing Towson to score eight goals in the second half.

"We came out in the second half, and we really wanted to control the ball and be disciplined, and we just didn't do that. We didn't execute, just turned it over. We thought we had them. We didn't give them enough credit, I think, because of our strong first half."

According to Reese, the plan was to play ball control. The Terps played ball control and took just seven shots in the second half after taking 24 in the first half. But the strategy was not as successful as she had expected.

Despite the inconsistencies, Reese is still even keeled and not reaching for a panic button.

"It's not like we need to revamp or anything like that - we won the game," Reese said. "It was a 15-10 game with a 10 point lead at halftime. Everyone got playing time; it's a good day when that happens."

(C) 2008 The Diamondback via UWIRE