No. 6 Maryland women’s lacrosse at No. 7 Florida preview

A bounce-back win was essential for Maryland ladies’s lacrosse, and a bounce-back win was precisely what it earned, defeating Drexel 15-9 on Tuesday.

For starters, the Dragons didn’t even have an offensive possession till eight minutes by the primary body. As well as, Shaylan Ahearn gained a career-high 14 draw controls. The Terps’ offensive starpower flashed, with Libby Might and Hannah Leubecker combining for 10 targets. Regardless of some lapses within the second and fourth quarters, the Terps returned to the championship stage of play that they’re able to.

Now, in a showdown versus No. 7 Florida, Maryland may have an opportunity to show that it could actually dismantle one of many elite groups within the nation.

Up to now, the Gators have confronted some difficult foes. First, they squared off in opposition to No. 17 Michigan, successful 17-8. Subsequent, they traveled to No. 1 North Carolina, the place they have been dismantled, 12-5.

Saturday’s sport will start at 12 p.m. and stream on ESPN+.

Florida Gators (1-1, 0-0 AAC)

2022 report: 17-5, 5-0 AAC

Amanda O’Leary is now in her 14th season as head coach of the Gators. She took over on the crew’s inception in 2010 and hasn’t faltered since. Her profession report of 365-118 speaks for itself, and she or he has taken Florida to 11 NCAA Tournaments. O’Leary has coached 27 gamers who’ve earned 87 All-American honors. She has additionally produced 4 Tewaaraton Award finalists and two Honda Sports activities Award nominees.

Gamers to look at

Emma LoPinto, sophomore attacker, No. 14 — LoPinto is clearly one of many nation’s rising superstars. Final season, LoPinto scored 63 targets and dished out 34 assists. Her 97 whole factors have been essentially the most ever by a Florida freshman. With this success, she was named an IWLCA Third Group All-American and AAC Freshman of the 12 months. She stays one of many focal factors on the offensive aspect of the ball, with seven targets and three assists in simply two video games thus far.

Danielle Pavinelli, junior attacker, No. 10 — Pavinelli had a transparent breakout season in 2022, scoring 73 targets and recording 23 assists. Consequently, she was acknowledged with quite a few awards, together with however not restricted to Tewaaraton top-25 Nominee, All-AAC First Group and IWLCA Second Group All-American. In two video games this season, Pavinelli has posted three targets, 4 assists and has two draw controls.

Sarah Reznick, redshirt junior goalkeeper, No. 18 — Reznick may be the perfect goalkeeper within the AAC, slotting in at primary in save share (.565) and saves per sport (13). Final season, Reznick racked up quite a few awards; she was three-time AAC Defender of the Week and was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch Record. As well as, she was named to the All-AAC First Group and the AAC Goalkeeper of the 12 months.

Energy

Assault. Pavinelli and LoPinto clearly lead this squad, and if the Gators need to have any probability of beating the Terps this Saturday, they might want to journey their abilities to a victory. In Florida’s win over No. 17 Michigan, LoPinto scored 4 targets and three assists whereas Pavinelli had two targets and two assists of her personal.

Weak spot

Protection and turnovers. Sure, Florida has performed two very expert groups to start the season. Nonetheless, the statistics don’t lie. Regardless of Sarah Reznick’s spectacular begin, Florida’s defensive unit has not all the time performed very effectively round her. It ranks second to final in its convention in brought about turnovers and floor balls per sport, and second in turnovers of their very own per sport.

Three issues to look at

1. The Terps’ ball motion and taking pictures. There are just a few features to think about right here. First off, Maryland is sixth within the Massive Ten in assists per sport. So, there are questions as as to whether the Terps will use the swift ball motion that introduced them a lot success in opposition to St. Joseph’s, or if they may resort to the extra remoted type of assault that was stymied in opposition to Syracuse. Deploying Eloise Clevenger at X and permitting her to distribute the ball to cutters for fast launch photographs seems to be their finest recipe for scores.

Secondly, Maryland’s taking pictures share in opposition to Syracuse was dismal, and even in opposition to Drexel, its offense fired some errant balls. That is partly resulting from Maryland settling for contested photographs after having run down the shot clock. A key on Saturday might be to make it possible for whereas being affected person on offense, Maryland dictates the tempo and is assertive.

2. Maryland’s protection. Maryland’s defensive unit not solely performed a subpar sport in opposition to Syracuse, but it surely additionally had moments the place Drexel was in a position to expose it. It’s comprehensible that this would possibly happen, because the Terps’ unit is a mixture of children, veterans and transfers. They’re almost certainly nonetheless engaged on their communication and camaraderie every day. As soon as they put all of it collectively, nevertheless, this protection can completely be the perfect within the nation. They’re bodily and aren’t afraid of going after floor balls, stifling in man-coverage and clearing the ball.

3. Total play in opposition to a talented opponent. The rationale that this stays one thing to look at is just because Maryland has but to beat a really formidable opponent. When the Terps confronted Syracuse, the tempo of play picked up exponentially. Consequently, their selections felt rushed and infrequently panicked. This Saturday, it is going to be essential to see simply how Maryland responds to early blows from Florida and whether or not or not the offense can reply.