No. 8 Maryland women’s lacrosse vs. Ohio State preview

No. 8 Maryland ladies’s lacrosse discovered itself in a uncommon three-goal gap to begin Wednesday night time’s highway matchup towards No. 12 Princeton. What transpired, nonetheless, was pretty much as good of a sport because the Terps have performed all season.

Outscoring the Tigers by seven targets to complete the half, Maryland’s offense continued to click on within the second half, ultimately main to a different wonderful highway victory, 19-9.

The offense labored in concord with one other super efficiency by the protection. Its anchor, junior goalkeeper Emily Sterling, notched one other double-digit save outing with 10.

The Terps are rolling and can face one more highway take a look at towards Ohio State. Whereas Maryland might be looking for its fifth straight victory, the Buckeyes are additionally surging with a three-game win streak of their very own on the road.

Sunday’s Massive Ten matchup might be performed at midday and might be watched on the Massive Ten Community.

Ohio State Buckeyes (9-4, 2-1 Massive Ten)

2021 report: 4-9 (4-8 Massive Ten)

Head coach Amy Bokker is in her third season with the Buckeyes after guiding the Stanford Cardinals to 11 NCAA Tournaments over her 11-year tenure. Like many coaches since 2020, success has been arduous to return by because of the pandemic. Bokker collected 9 wins throughout her first two seasons, however this yr’s squad has already matched the prior win tally in 2022.

Gamers to know

Sophomore attacker Jamie Lasda, No. 7 — It’s not any of three Massive Ten Preseason Gamers to Watch that lead the Buckeyes in targets scored. That distinction belongs to the sophomore from Ithaca, New York. With simply 9 video games to her title, Lasda has erupted in her second yr in Columbus. She leads the group with 32 targets, rating ninth within the Massive Ten on a per sport foundation.

Attackers, junior Nicole Ferrara, No. 11 & senior Chloe Johnson, No. 13 — Regardless of Lasda’s emergence, the offense’s two veteran stars have performed as much as expectations this yr. Ferrara trails Lasda in targets scored with 23, however leads the group in factors due to her 17 assists. Johnson has a modest 18 targets and 4 assists on the season, however she has made her mark on the draw; her 104 draw controls rank second within the Massive Ten.

Graduate midfielder Lindsay Epstein (No. 18) — A 3-time captain with the Buckeyes, Epstein bounced again after lacking 2020 as a consequence of harm with an All-Massive Ten Second Crew nod. She has since distanced herself from the harm with a loaded stat line in 2022. The veteran has 23 targets, 26 floor balls and 17 triggered turnovers (each team-highs), and 37 draw controls.

Power

Consistency throughout the board. There isn’t actually an entire lot that Ohio State is dangerous at. Neither is there any class that they rise above the remaining in. What they do, although, is present consistency throughout all aspects of the sport. They rank within the high half of the Massive Ten in principally all the predominant statistics, together with factors per sport, save proportion and draw controls.

Weak spot

Turnovers. Whereas most of Ohio State’s stable strategy is satisfactory, the one outlier is turnover margin. The Buckeyes triggered a middling 8.62 turnovers per sport, however commit 16.69 a sport. That makes for a Massive Ten-worst minus-105 margin via 13 video games. For comparability, Maryland’s minus-18 is the very best within the convention.

Three issues to look at

1. Will Maryland proceed to pour it on offensively? After a powerful efficiency versus Princeton, it might be silly to anticipate something much less from a red-hot Terps group. However the brief day off between video games mixed with the highway ambiance of a convention sport presents some challenges. Maryland edged Ohio State in each conferences final season, however the important thing to toppling the Buckeyes might be sustaining its aggressiveness from earlier within the week.

2. The Aurora-Eloise connection. Graduate attacker Aurora Cordingley and sophomore attacker Eloise Clevenger have showcased super chemistry this season. Just like the traditional story of the sorcerer’s apprentice, Cordingley’s veteran management and Clevenger’s younger vitality have mixed for a team-high 14 targets this season. They linked up as soon as once more with 21 seconds to spare within the first quarter towards Princeton and ought to be in line for lots extra connections towards Ohio State.

3. Draw management prowess. For the reason that Villanova sport on March 13, the Terps struggled to win the draw management margin. However within the final two video games, the group has mixed for a plus-12 margin over its opponents. Will that story proceed towards a tricky draw management group within the Buckeyes?