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This is the big time. No. 1 Maryland vs No. 4 Northwestern from Lakeside Field in Evanston. This will be the conference opener for not just these teams, but for the entire conference. The Big Ten has reached into lacrosse, and they couldn't have picked a much better game to kick it off.
Maryland enters the game as the unanimous top ranked team in women's lacrosse. The Terps are 9-0 this year, they're riding a 19-game winning streak dating back to last season, and, oh yeah, they're the defending national champs. Maryland brings back last year's Tewaaraton Award winner in Taylor Cummings, who leads the team in goals, assists, points, shots, ground balls, draw controls, and caused turnovers. So yeah, she's a decent player. And goalie Alex Fitzpatrick is giving up less than 6.5 goals per contest and saves more than half the shots she sees. She's serviceable too, I guess.
This game is chock-full of storylines. First you have the uniforms. Seriously, how how awesome are these? Then you have the coaching matchup. NU's Kelly Amonte Hiller graduated from Maryland and actually played alongside Maryland's head coach Cathy Reese. You have probably the two best freshmen in the country with Northwestern's Selena Lasota and Maryland's Megan Whittle. AND BOTH OF THE TEAMS ARE IN THE TOP 5. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
This is going to be maybe the biggest game of the lacrosse regular season. Strap in, it should be a tight one. Here's how to watch:
Time: 6 p.m. CST
Channel: BTN (Mike Wolf, Courtney Connor)
Online: BTN2GO