During the final 10 minutes of Sunday’s NCAA Quarterfinal women’s lacrosse game between Maryland and Cornell, the members of the Maryland media began to whistle along as the band played Davy. The Cornell fight song was played so many times that it will undoubtedly run through the heads of several members of the seven-time defending national champion Terrapins as well during the long bus ride home following a 14-4 thrashing at the hands of Cornell. The 10-point goal differential was the largest Maryland had suffered since falling 13-2 to Penn State during the 1976 season.
Playing through driving rain on Schoellkopf Field, the No. 4 Red (16-1, 6-1 Ivy) thoroughly dominated No. 12 Maryland (11-10, 0-3 ACC) to earn its first ever trip to the Final Four. Maryland, which has won every national championship since 1995, saw its NCAA-record 21 game tournament winning streak come to an end. With the win, Cornell improved to a perfect 8-0 at home on the season and extended its school-record winning streak to 11 games.
“[Cornell] played extremely well today,” said Maryland head coach Cindy Timchal. “We really didn’t have an answer.”
Senior midfielder Jamiee Reynolds played perhaps the finest game of her illustrious career, collecting seven goals and two assists for a total of nine points.
“They just had trouble marking her,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86. “They didn’t ever double her. Most of Jamiee’s goals were one-on-one.”
Classmate Lori Wohlschlegel added a goal and two assists, and junior attacker Sarah Averson added a hat trick to the cause.
Maryland drew first blood as Sonia Judd scored on a feed from Kelly Coppedge just 1:38 into the contest. However, the Red quickly responded as junior Sarah Fischer scored on a free position shot at 3:55 to tie the game. This began a 5-0 Cornell run that included the first four of Reynolds’ nine points on the game.
Up 7-3 at the half, the Red came out strong in the second, limiting the Terps to very few clear shots on goal and causing several turnovers.
Reynolds found the back of the net at 37:43, her fifth goal of the game and the 200th point of her career, by far a school record. Averson followed with her second goal of the game, eluding the Terps’ goalie Alexis Venechanos off a pretty pass from senior Katie McCorry, three minutes later to extend the Cornell lead to 9-3.
Following a free position goal by Maryland’s Kristie Legio at 44:52, the Red defense took over and held the Terps scoreless for the final 15 minutes of the game. The four goals ties the lowest offensive output in Maryland’s history.
Averson scored her third goal of the game with just under three minutes remaining to increase the Red’s lead to 10 at 14-4. With her three goals, Averson moved into ninth place on Cornell’s career points list with 116.
Defensively, the Red recorded one of its finest performances of the year. Senior goalie Carrie Giancola notched 12 saves on 16 shots, her best performance of the year. Senior Kari Zarzecki handled her mark of Maryland’s top scoring threat Courtney Hobbs flawlessly, limiting her to just one free position goal on the game. Cornell also caused 11 turnovers.
“[The defense] just did a phenomenal job,” said Giancola. “We had a plan and we stuck with it