COLLEGE PARK, Md. — As she took her position before the second half in the crease, Kelsey Richardson looked into the net. With the shaft of her stick, she tapped the middle of the left post, the crossbar and finally the right goal post, and turned around.

While Maryland outplayed SU on the rest of the field in the first half and held a 7-3 lead, Richardson owned her crease.

Richardson kept No. 5 SU (5-2, 1-2) in its game against No. 1 UMD (5-0, 2-0), stopping a career-high 16 shots and preventing UMD from scoring on four of its six free positions. Her performance helped counter UMD outshooting Syracuse by 10 shots throughout the game.

“I thought it was one of the best games she’s played,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said of Richardson. “Really saw the ball well, did her homework, had tendencies on shooters and I thought did a great job.”

Just less than halfway through the first half, UMD midfielder Kelly McPartland lined up for a free position. The shot hit Richardson’s stick in the pocket and rebounded back into the stick of UMD midfielder Erin Collins.

Collins loomed on the edge of the crease and fired a point-blank shot that Richardson stopped, keeping the score 3-2 in favor of UMD. Richardson helped preserve a first half in which SU struggled to produce on offense.

“She had an unbelievable game,” SU attack Kayla Treanor said. “She came up huge for us.”

Richardson said she could tell where the Terrapins’ shooters were going on free positions. If they ran in with their sticks high, she anticipated a low shot and if they came in with their stick low, the shot was likely going high.

Taylor Cummings was the only player to vex Richardson on free positions, scoring Maryland’s only two free-position goals of the game.

Cummings would drop the ball, put her stick next to it and scoop it back up. She stood on the 8-meter arc for her free position and Richardson would counter with her own routine. Richardson tapped the post twice, put her stick by her ear and shuffled her feet.

Richardson also picked up shots well in the flow of the game. Gait said she broke down film to prepare for the game this week. In particular, Richardson knew she had to pay attention to UMD midfielder Brooke Griffin because she faked a lot.

“I really studied their shots and what their tendencies were… just really, really focused more on saving the ball rather than directing the defense,” Richardson said. “It was more personal lessons for me over this week.”

A few times, a Terrapins player, usually Cummings, would get loose and streak to the net, creating a one-on-one situation for Richardson. UMD players would dodge their defender and then dodge the defender that picked them up.

While Richardson stood tall for most of the game, Terrapins players slung the ball around for about the final five minutes of the game and SU couldn’t get the ball back for a last-second comeback.

Richardson sat in the crease, alone. There would be no Maryland shots at her, no saves to make. Instead, the player that controlled the crease and kept SU in the game couldn’t control the final outcome.

“It sucks. It sucks that that’s how the game has to end. It sucks that there’s no stall warning in women’s lacrosse yet,” Richardson said of the last few minutes. “My whole college career has been defined by that thing and so it sucks losing to them and by that many and we were right there and it came to that and them just standing out.”

Published on March 7, 2015 at 7:57 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati