Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal preview: No. 3-seed Maryland women’s lacrosse vs. No. 6-seed Rutgers

No. 3-seed Maryland women’s lacrosse will begin its postseason run Saturday when it hosts No. 6-seed Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

The Terps had a chance to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title — and a top two seed in the conference tournament — when it welcomed Penn State to College Park on April 13, but they instead let an early lead slip en route to a 12-11 defeat.

Meanwhile, after a strong showing last season, Rutgers has faltered this year in Big Ten play. Its only conference win came against Ohio State in overtime.

Saturday’s game is set for 4 p.m. and will stream on Big Ten Plus.

What happened last time

Riding a three-game losing streak, the Scarlet Knights looked for an upset bid against then-No. 2 Maryland in the Big Ten opener. On the flip-side, the Terps were set to take over the No. 1 ranking with a win and did just that — prevailing by a score of 13-8.

The Terps netted six early goals, with Libby May and Hannah Leubecker combining for four of the tallies.

For Rutgers, midfielder Cassidy Spilis did all she could to keep her team in it. She finished the game with a team-high five goals.

However, led by Leubecker’s season-high six goals and a hat trick by May, Maryland pulled away in the fourth quarter to begin conference play on a high note.

What’s happened since

The Terps have struggled down the stretch relative to historical success, dropping three of their final six games.

Despite that, each of their wins victory came against a ranked opponent and they have maintained a top-15 defense nationally.

After its defeat in College Park, Rutgers suffered a fifth straight loss to Northwestern. However, the Scarlet Knights have won two of their last five games, with two of their three losses coming by one goal.

Three things to watch.

1. Maryland’s offense looks for consistency. Even with a plethora of all-conference selections, Maryland’s attack has struggled to efficiently score, ranking No. 96 in the country in shooting percentage.

2. Can the Terps contain Cassidy Spilis? The Terps’ defense has allowed over 12 goals on average over their past four games, an unsustainable recipe for success. Spilis is one of the most dangerous scorers in the conference and gave the Terps all sorts of trouble last time out.

3. The start of Maryland’s postseason run. The Terps have won three Big Ten Tournament titles since joining the conference in 2015, and can potentially see matchups this year against two teams they lost to in the regular season: No. 2-seed Penn State and No. 1-seed Northwestern.

“We need to make sure we’re putting together all the tools we’ve worked on and kinda accumulated over the course of the season and be able to execute as we go,” head coach Cathy Reese said.