STAGE
PRESENCE Five breakout stars of the NCAA tournament
Megan Douty Maryland Douty thrived as a crease defender on a team otherwise known for its scorers and kept fellow Tewaaraton fi nalist Kayla Treanor scoreless in the second half of the Terps’ 15-12 win over Syracuse in the championship game.
Maddy Keeshan Virginia Keeshan, who moved back
to midfi eld after two seasons playing defense, scored eight goals in three games — including the eventual game-winner in the Cavaliers’ 10-9 quarterfi nal upset of defending champ North Carolina. Virginia made the fi nal four for the fi rst time since 2007.
Natalie Glanell Syracuse Glanell led an Orange defense that blanked Stony Brook’s Michelle Rubino and Dorrien Van Dyke, Boston College’s Mikaela Rix, and Virginia’s Courtney Swan and Casey Bocklet. She also scored her fi rst career goal to ice
Syracuse’s quarterfi nal win over Boston College.
Devon Schneider Florida Emerging from Shannon
Gilroy’s shadow, Schneider scored a career-high fi ve goals and added two assists in a second-round win over Denver, adding a goal and two assists in a quarterfi nal loss to Northwestern.
Brittney Orashen Jacksonville The Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year nearly willed the Dolphins to their fi rst NCAA tournament win with four goals in a 12-8 loss to Denver.
chemistry Cathy wanted us to have,” Cummings said. “They had so many shots of them just fooling around with the camera and having a really good time. Kristen Lamon did the same thing with our NCAA journey. We actually ended up with some very similar footage.”
Lamon said “The 99ers” not only resonated with the team, but also with the expansion of women’s lacrosse. While the NCAA and hosting NFL teams are wringing their hands over declining attendance at the men’s lacrosse championship weekend, the NCAA fi nal between Maryland and Syracuse was the most watched game in women’s lacrosse history. It helped to have a home
team.
“This fi lm really reminded us why we love Maryland lacrosse so much,” Lamon said. “Being able to see the impact that our sport and my teammates, as well as other teams, have on young girls is an amazing experience — to be a part of it and visualize its growth.” Before they left College Park
for Towson, Lamon whipped out her camera as the players retreated to the locker room for their last few belongings. She shot video of their uniforms hanging in lockers, ready to be packed, and went back outside to pan the turf fi eld at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex they called home. As they boarded the bus, Lamon lingered behind and absorbed the emotion as supporters sent them off in pursuit of their fi rst NCAA title since 2010.
***
Reese said. “It was cool to share a little bit of history of another great sport and another great team.” At 9 a.m., the Maryland players took their seats. When the credits rolled an hour later, Cummings, a product of the undefeated McDonogh (Md.) School dynasty so unaccustomed to the anguish of defeat she felt in 2013, left the special fi lm session captivated and especially motivated for 2014. “They had an amazing work ethic and that’s the kind of mentality and team
46 LACROSSE MAGAZINE July 2014>>
No team has won more NCAA championships (11), played in more championship games (18) or advanced to more NCAA tournaments (30) than Maryland. And even though the Terps lost two-time Tewaaraton Award winner Katie Schwarzmann and 2013 Tewaaraton fi nalist Alex Aust to graduation, they knew they had a magnet in Cummings, who continually insisted, “It’s not about me.”
But when it came time for Northwestern, the team that knocked
out Maryland in the 2011 NCAA fi nal and 2012 semifi nal, to devise a plan for its future Big Ten foe in yet another fi nal four encounter, it was all about Cummings. She teed off on Penn and Duke with a combined eight goals and 15 draw controls in the second round and quarterfi nals, respectively. So Wildcats’ coach Kelly Amonte Hiller deployed face-guarding specialist Kerri Harrington to stalk Cummings. Maryland’s supporting cast made them pay for that move. Cummings loitered back by the restraining line and pulled Harrington out with her, allowing midfi elder Kelly McPartland and attacker Brooke Griffi n space and freedom to pick Northwestern apart in a 9-6 win. “It got to the point that if you shut off one of us, then there were six other people who could score and make it no problem,” Cummings said.
Cummings, such a dynamic force in the midfi eld, still managed to grab four draw controls and win back several possessions playing defense. Before each draw, she would look for her father in the crowd. Michael Cummings played soccer at William & Mary despite being diagnosed with chronic fatigue — a condition that confi ned him to a bed sometimes for up to 22 hours a day. “Every draw I take, if my dad is in the stands, I have to look at him,” she said. “It’s just something that I always have to do. He always just looks at me and claps. It’s something that really means a lot and reminds me of the people on the sidelines cheering for me.”
*** Those cheers echoed throughout
Towson’s campus May 25 as Maryland arrived before its NCAA championship game showdown with Syracuse. The top- seeded Terps had already defeated the second-seeded Orange twice, including a 13-7 win in the ACC championship game, capping a six-year run atop college lacrosse’s toughest conference. The ACC, which loses Maryland to the new Big Ten conference in 2015, claimed six of the top eight seeds in the NCAA tournament.
On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, the time had come for the Big Terp-Little Terp spectacle of Glaros and Cummings. Every year, Maryland pairs an upperclassman (Big Terp) with an underclassman (Little Terp). This season, Glaros and Cummings developed a special bond symbolized through a shared game ritual, wearing
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©RICH BARNES (MD); ©GREG WALL (MK,NG, KM, KM); ©GREG SHEMITZ (DS); ©GRAY QUETTI (BO)
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