The Terps won their first game of the season.
No. 9 Maryland women’s lacrosse had the opportunity to pick up its first win of the season in dominant fashion. The Terps held a five-goal advantage late in the third quarter and had held Georgetown’s offense in check for 20 minutes.
But just as the Hoyas did earlier in the contest, they found a second gear and scored four unanswered goals to put the pressure back on Maryland.
Freshman Kayla Gilmore rose to the occasion, though. From behind the net, Chrissy Thomas found a cutting Gilmore, who fired the ball just over the head of Georgetown keeper Leah Warehime.
Gilmore’s second goal of the day effectively put the game out of reach and secured a 9-7 win for the Terps at home Tuesday.
“So proud of the way that we responded in a really tough situation,” head coach Cathy Reese said. “Love that we’ve had this challenge early in the year. We had a game that we really needed to gut out and figure out a way to win.”
Maryland (1-1) brought in 11 freshmen in the offseason, looking to fill the shoes of its departures. And while that group struggled in their first collegiate game, they came to play against Georgetown. Gilmore, Emma Abbazia and Shelby Sullivan combined for four goals.
Without a lot of familiar faces, the Terps’ attack looked out of sorts against Syracuse. Maryland accumulated 14 turnovers and generated just nine goals on 28 shots. Those woes persisted throughout large parts of Tuesday’s contest.
“Our catching and throwing wasn’t great, our passes weren’t great and we looked like we just passed in a circle sometimes,” Reese said. “We weren’t giving ourselves enough space to cut. … We were a little sloppy with our stick work and that needs to be cleaned up.”
The Terps committed two turnovers on their first three possessions and finished with 21. However, their shot efficiency helped to overcome those empty possessions. They converted five shots on goal into two scores in the first quarter.
Just 40 seconds into the quarter, Abbazia passed the ball behind the net to Maisy Clevenger. The sophomore returned the favor, immediately finding Abbazia streaking into the middle of the attacking zone. She rifled the ball into the bottom corner of the cage, beating Warehime with ease and notching her first career goal.
That was just the beginning of the freshmen takeover. Sullivan followed it up with her second goal of the season, sneaking it just barely past the front post.
While Maryland’s new pieces carried the load, the Hoyas’ returners got off to a great start, particularly attacker Gracie Driggs. Last season’s leading scorer and All-Big East second-team honoree picked up where she left off.
Driggs provided timely responses to keep the Hoyas within striking distance throughout the opening half. She recorded Georgetown’s first two goals of the game, the latter of which halted the Terps’ momentum midway through the second quarter.
But Maryland’s veteran players helped extend its lead and provided what seemed to be the knockout punch.
“I think we just went in there wanting to win our matchup,” defender Kennedy Major said. “That’s a big thing for us. We wanted to compete, wanted to prove ourselves. We knew that wasn’t our best performance so that kind of lit a fire under our butts defensively.”
Clevenger and Kori Edmondson scored two goals in rapid succession to open up a three-goal advantage early in the second quarter. Then, Kate Sites led the attack. After a turnover from Driggs, Sites made Georgetown pay. Thomas found Sites sprinting right in front of the goal, who lobbed it over the head of Warehime and into the back of the net. Her second goal came on the ensuing possession after a Hoyas’ foul.
Gilmore capped off a dominant second quarter with her first goal in a Maryland uniform, giving her team a 7-3 lead heading into the halftime break.
After a sluggish season opener for goalie JJ Suriano, she responded well in the opening 43 minutes of play. Suriano matched her save total from the first game at the break and finished with 11 saves. She held Georgetown to just three goals with time dwindling down in the third quarter.
“JJ had some excellent saves today,” Reese said. “Love to see the way that she rebounded after last game, which is huge for her and for our defense to put her in that position.”
But once the Hoyas found the back of the net, the floodgates opened. Georgetown cut the deficit to one and had the Terps on the ropes.
Maryland clung to its lead, though, and improved to 28-4 all-time against the Hoyas.
Three things to know
1. Ugly win. It was not pretty or the scoreline the Terps expected given its five-goal lead, but they got it done, picking up their first win of the 2025 campaign.
2. Faceoff dominance continued. With the departure of Shaylan Ahearn — Maryland’s faceoff specialist for four years — the Terps were forced to find a successor. Gilmore has seemingly been that player, recording a game-high six of the Terps’ 16 draw controls.
3. Second-quarter offensive onslaught. After a sluggish start to the season for the attacking unit, Maryland’s offense came alive in the second quarter. The Terps scored five goals in the period and three within two minutes. Seven Maryland players also found the back of the net.