RETURN TO GLORY

TOWSON —  Caitlyn McFadden had worked too hard for this.

Less than 10 minutes into her first, and last, national championship game Sunday, the dedication the senior midfielder invested into the Terrapin women's lacrosse program for four years had seemingly fallen apart.

Northwestern, winner of five consecutive national titles, stormed out to a six-goal lead and looked poised to run away with a sixth title. The Wildcats scored on almost every shot, forced the Terps' offense into careless mistakes and capitalized on every opportunity.

But McFadden, even after watching two of her team's first three goals get called off, kept her composure and helped put together the greatest comeback in women's lacrosse championship history.

The Terps erased a six-goal deficit before halftime and controlled the second half en route to the program's first National Championship since 2001, beating the Wildcats 13-11 in front of the largest crowd to ever witness a women's lacrosse game in the United States.

As the final buzzer sounded, McFadden found herself lost among a pile of her teammates on the field. Moments later, the senior hoisted the national championship trophy with her coach, Cathy Reese, standing in the background, trying to conceal her tears of joy.

"It meant so much to me. I'm so excited," said McFadden, who garnered the tournament's most outstanding player award. "I think when the clock hit zero, I just ran right into the pile of my teammates. I just couldn't stop smiling. I didn't have any words or anything to say. I was so excited for our team and so proud of the heart we showed tonight."

Reese and McFadden, the centerpieces of the Terps' resurgence to the top, punctuated their season in remarkable fashion.

But at first, the task seemed impossible. Northwestern easily weaved through the Terps' defense to score time after time, leading to the six-goal start.

"We were allowing shots to go right in front of the cage, which gives [goalie Brittany] Dipper no chance, especially in the sun," defender Brittany Poist said. "We had to chip away, one at a time, and it was nothing to be negative about."

As they had done in comebacks earlier this season against James Madison and Towson, the Terps kept their faith.

"Each goal, we came together and said, ‘Keep fighting and stay in it,'" McFadden said. "We completely believed in each other and kept playing with confidence and heart and came back from it."

The Terps scored seven consecutive goals, while holding the nation's top offense scoreless for more than 27 minutes. Although McFadden struggled to find her openings in the first half, midfielder Katie Schwarzmann pushed the Terps back into contention.

The freshman tied a career high with three goals, all in the first half, while attacker Sarah Mollison added three more to alleviate pressure from the struggling defense before the break.

During that time, the Terps' top-ranked defense regained its form. Dipper, who allowed Northwestern to score on six of its first eight shots, stopped the next nine. She even stopped a shot by Northwestern's All-America attacker Katrina Dowd with 15 seconds remaining in the half to keep the tie.

"I think that if you get down the stretch and play teams like Maryland, you are not going to put any team away in the first half, even if we're up 15-0 in the first half," Northwestern midfielder Danielle Spencer said. "I still don't think that we would've just put them away because it's got to be a full 60 minutes."

In the second half, McFadden put her stamp on the game. Her goal less than four minutes into the half gave the Terps their first lead of the game.

But the Wildcats weren't finished. Using a patient scoring attack, Northwestern found a few openings and forged its own comeback, scoring two goals to tie the game at 10 with 12:03 remaining.

Enter McFadden. The two-time Tewaarton Trophy finalist assisted on the go-ahead goal by midfielder Brandi Jones and scored the eventual game-winner minutes later.

The Terps' defense keyed the comeback and prevented the Wildcats from making one of their own. McFadden held Dowd, who had scored in 39 straight games before Sunday, without a goal.

Attacker Karri Ellen Johnson scored three goals in the game and also played a main role in the draw controls. Northwestern and midfielder Danielle Spencer led the country in draw controls per game, but lost the overall count to Johnson and the Terps.

The triumphant effort put an end to the Northwestern dynasty that had reigned for the past five years. It also opened the door for the Terps to author another one of their own.

"I'm so proud of this 2010 team," Reese said. "The heart and the fight they displayed were outstanding. I think they showed such great composure and such great poise and just played a great game to fight back from that."

ceckard@umdbk.com