Little rust for women's lacrosse in decisive season opener

RICHMOND, Va. – If there were ever a doubt the Terrapin women's lacrosse team would not produce its familiar high-octane offense in which goals tend to come in bunches, it took all of 74 seconds yesterday for Sarah Mollison and Karri Ellen Johnson to dispel the notion.

Less than a minute into the season, Mollison connected with a cutting Johnson, who poured in her first of a career-high seven goals. Sixteen seconds later, Mollison joined her teammate in the goals column as she ripped a shot past Richmond goalie Victoria Roebuck.

A nine-goal flurry in the first 15:30 gave the No. 1 Terps all the breathing room they needed as they began their title defense with an 18-7 win against Richmond at Robins Stadium.

"It was a good way for us to start our season, kind of an interesting game," coach Cathy Reese said. "I thought we started off really strong. In the first 15 minutes, we went up 9-0 and then after that ... we slowed down a little bit."

Even without one of their captains — midfielder Laura Merrifield did not play due to sickness — the Terps (1-0) began with a frenetic pace of play. Mollison, who tied a school record with six assists, combined with midfielders Katie Schwarzmann and Beth Glaros to jumpstart the team's attack.

The initial burst of energy that had led to the scoring surge slowly fizzled, though, as the Spiders (0-1) began to crawl back into the contest. In a chaotic final 10 seconds of the first half, Richmond attacker Caitlin Fifield scored to cut the deficit to 11-4.

"We're capable of a lot more than what we were showing out there," Reese said. "We've got to play with a sense of pride and a sense of urgency that we need to take care of business and get the job done. We can't be complacent or slack off a little bit, and that's what I felt like we were doing at that point."

The start of the second half yielded long possessions for the Terps but little in the way of goals. With just one goal in the first 21:41, a frustrated Reese called timeout to express her displeasure with the shrinking lead to her team.

"To be honest, we needed it," Johnson said. "We needed a little kick in the butt. We needed a little energy, and it was the perfect thing because we came out, got the next draw and continued our streak."

The final eight minutes of action served to illustrate the level of talent Johnson and the Terps possess. Schwarzmann, a U.S. national team member, scored three consecutive goals in just more than four minutes to extinguish any sliver of hope Richmond still had.

"I think it was a great season opener," Johnson said. "We've been anticipating this. We came out really hard, and I think we kind of died a little bit in the later half, but we came back, and we were proud of it. ... We're going to move forward. We're going to learn from it."

castello@umdbk.com