COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 14 University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team made a statement on Wednesday night, knocking off No. 1 Maryland 13-9 at the Terps' Field Hockey & Lacrosse Stadium.
 
The win was Penn's first over a No. 1-ranked team since April 27, 2008 when the Quakers defeated then-No. 1 Northwestern, 11-7, at Franklin Field. Penn took over as No. 1 with that win and ultimately met the Wildcats in a rematch in the NCAA Championship final which NU won, 10-6.

In addition, Penn beat the 14-time NCAA champion Terrapins for just the third time in a series that was played for the 30th time on Wednesday night and the first time in College Park. Prior to this game, the Quakers had beaten Maryland in the 1983 regular season and in a 2007 NCAA quarterfinal, both in Philadelphia.
 
Penn improved to 8-1 on the season, the only loss coming 6-5 to No. 2 Michigan on March 16. The top-ranked Terps had their six-game win streak snapped and fell to 9-2 just three days after ascending to the No. 1 spot in every poll (IWLCA, IL, USA Lacrosse Mag).
 
Quaker Notemeal
*This win was no fluke. Penn outshot Maryland 33-20, forced Terrapins keeper Emily Sterling to make 12 saves, and three of the Terps' nine goals came in player-up situations while all 13 of the Quakers' goals came in even situations.
 
*Penn only trailed once on Wednesday night, at 2-1.
 
*Penn also won the draw control battle, 15-11.
 
*Penn's vaunted defense once again stood tall, holding to the Terps four goals below their season average and causing nine turnovers.
 
*Junior Anna Brandt once again led Penn's attack with four goals, giving her nine goals in the last two games, 15 in the last four, and six straight multi-goal games.
 
*In the process, Brandt—who also had three draw controls—became the 15th player in program history to reach 100 goals for her career and the second in 15 days (Niki Miles reached the mark against Georgetown on March 12). The junior needed just 43 games to achieve the milestone.
 
*The senior Miles scored twice and dished out three assists for another five-point night. It's her fifth time reaching at least five points this season, with three other four-point games on her ledger.
 
*Miles also led the Quakers with a game-high six draw controls.
 
*Junior Gracie Smith also scored twice on Wednesday night, her second multi-goal game this season (the other coming March 8 at William & Mary).
 
*Junior Keeley Block and freshman Catherine Berkery both had a goal and an assist for two points.
 
*Penn's other goal scorers were senior Julia Chai, junior defender Natasha Gorriaran (her first of the season), and freshman Eden Welch (her first collegiate goal).
 
*Defensively, senior Grace Fujinaga spearheaded the effort with five caused turnovers while senior Aly Feeley had four draw controls.
 
*Senior goalie Kelly Van Hoesen finished the night with five saves, two CTs, and four ground balls.
 
*Maryland got four goals from Hannah Leubecker and two from Kori Edmondson, while Eloise Clevenger dished out three assists. Libby May and Shaylan Ahearn had four draw controls each.
 
How It Happened
Brandt made a spectacular play to open the scoring on Wednesday night, going up among a litany of Maryland defenders to catch Block's free-position shot that was saved, then rolling out of the scrum and bouncing a shot home. The Terps responded with the next two goals, the second on a free-position shot, but Brandt tied it up again with a righty rocket in a 1v1 situation. Chai then gave Penn a 3-2 lead when Miles beat a defender and found her classmate wide open on the doorstep. Maryland scored with 33 seconds left in an extra-player situation and it was 3-3 after one.

Miles gave Penn a lead it wouldn't relinquish early in the second, winning the draw and then bouncing a shot between Sterling's legs in a 1v1 situation. Brandt's 100th career goal came nearly eight minutes later and doubled the Quakers' lead, as she came back across her body while running through the front of the crease and found the net. More than two minutes later, Berkery sent a great feed from behind that Smith caught in front for the easy finish and Penn had doubled up the top-ranked Terps, 6-3.
 
Maryland scored twice in a 44-second span to get back within a goal, the first coming with 2:49 left (ending a nearly 13-minute scoring drought) and the second on another player-up situation with 2:05 to play. However, Berkery scored a beauty in the final minute of the half, taking a feed from Erika Chung on the left side, turning and switching hands in the process to slot home a sidearm shot. Penn's lead was 7-5 at the break.
 
Penn kept the pressure on in the third, Gorriaran opening the scoring when she was pushed after passing a ball in transition and given a free-position shot that she potted. Brandt closed out her account with another 1v1, this time finishing lefty into the upper corner, before Maryland ended another 11-minute drought by converting the second of two free-position goals after the first attempt went high. Block got the margin back to four at 10-6, beating her defender up top and going 5-hole with a lefty bounce shot, but Maryland made it a three-goal game before the end of the quarter by turning a Miles shot that was saved into a transition goal at the other end.
 
The Terps then got within two just 27 second into the fourth, after Penn won the draw but turned it over then gave UM a free-position attempt. However, Penn settled down and used lengthy possessions to shorten the game. Welch got a key goal just 1:10 after UM made it 10-8, drawing a free-position attempt and converting the shot for her first collegiate goal. Nearly eight minutes went by after that before anyone scored, this time Smith converting a Miles feed that made the score 12-8. Miles then added her second of the night when Block found her alone in front, making it 13-8 with a little more than three minutes to play. Maryland got one back with just over two minutes left when the Quakers made a hash of their clear and gave the hosts a breakaway opportunity, but that was all the top-ranked team could muster the rest of the way.
 
Up Next
The Quakers are off this weekend and hit a stretch of three straight Ivy League road games starting next Wednesday, with Princeton at 7 p.m. at Old Nassau.
 
For the latest on Penn women's lacrosse, follow @PennWomensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.