Women's soccer earns first-ever No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament

The Terrapin women's soccer team's locker room, brimming with a mass of anxious players, fell surreally silent as the Terps stared at a single television screen yesterday afternoon.

The team, still reeling after dropping Sunday's ACC Championship game to Wake Forest in penalty kicks, had gathered to watch the unveiling of the brackets for the NCAA Tournament. Few players dared to speak, instead focusing their attention on the ESPNU telecast.

In an instant, the silence was replaced by a deafening chorus of screams as the Terps continued to rewrite program history. In earning their first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Terps will begin their quest for a national title Friday with the newfound respect and pressures of a tournament favorite.

"I'm so excited," senior co-captain Caitlin McDowell said. "There are no words; I never want it to end."

The reactions throughout the locker room varied. Many players reached for their cell phones, text-messaging family and friends with the news. Others, including forward Ashley Grove and midfielders Amy O'Sullivan and Megan Gibbons, were a bit more animated, celebrating with a jumping, screaming hug in front of their lockers. Even normally calm assistant coach Jonathan Morgan cracked a grin.

But a reserved Brian Pensky, the team's sixth-year coach, simply copied down the Terps' bracket and raised his eyebrows.

"As the assistant, I'm allowed to crack a smile," Morgan joked. "He's not."

With Stanford, Portland and North Carolina having all but locked down the top three No. 1 seeds before yesterday, the Terps entered the tournament conversation firmly on the top-seed bubble. SEC champion Florida, boasting similar credentials as the Terps, seemed to be their biggest competition.

But ultimately, runner-up finishes in the powerful ACC's regular season and conference tournament proved just enough for the Terps, who are guaranteed home-field advantage until the College Cup.

"I thought we were an outside shot at a [No. 1 seed]," Pensky said. "Our team has been fighting for respect, so for the national committee to put us in the likes of the Carolinas and the Portlands and the Stanfords, it's a statement about where we've come as a program.

"It feels good, but in the bigger picture, it doesn't really matter. We've got to go out and win games."

Along with the Terps and the Tar Heels, six other ACC programs earned bids to the tournament. Florida State, Boston College and Virginia received No. 2 seeds, with the Cavaliers falling in the same 16-team quadrant as the Terps.

The Terps will open their tournament slate Friday against High Point. Should they win, they will face the winner of Georgetown and Siena on Sunday at Ludwig Field.

"It's nice to be in our own beds; it's nice to not have to travel; it's nice to hopefully get some support," said Pensky, whose Terps are undefeated at home this season. "Home-field advantage is a big deal."

Third-seeded Ohio State and fourth-seeded Texas A&M round out the seeded teams in the Terps' bracket.

And even after Sunday's heartbreaker in Cary, N.C., the Terps know they must now turn their attention to the Big South champion Panthers.

"We're still stung to not have that hardware sitting in our locker room right now," Pensky said. "So now, we turn our attention to the NCAA Tournament and see if we can pick up some hardware in the Big Dance."

When the team had filtered out of its locker room, leaving only Pensky and his coaching staff lingering, one plaque loomed prominently next to the now-blank TV.

It bore a long list of the team's lofty preseason goals, many of which have been realized. But one objective, written out in bold silver lettering, stood out as yet unreached: College Cup.

Over the next two and a half weeks, the Terps will have another opportunity to conquer a goal that few outside their locker room ever believed possible.

"We're going to remain humble and look at every team as the biggest game of our life," McDowell said. "If you don't win, you're going home."

cwalsh@umdbk.com