A 12-goal first-half deficit proved to be insurmountable for the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (0-2) when it lost to No. 1 defending national champion Maryland (2-0) 18-8 on Saturday. Maryland scored 14 goals in the first half to Georgetown’s two, but the Hoyas were able to tally six goals in the second half. Maryland controlled the offensive pace throughout the game, outshooting Georgetown 34-17 and controlling over 70 percent of the draws.

The Terrapins tallied 12 straight goals in the first 19 minutes of the game, starting with a goal only 53 seconds into the game by senior midfielder Bryn Boucher. Maryland sophomore attack Megan Whittle scored four goals while freshman midfielder Caroline Steele scored three. Senior midfielder Taylor Cummings finished with four points as she had three assists and a goal, and three goalies saw action. After Whittle and Steele notched goals in the second half, the Hoyas regained some momentum and scored five straight to bring the game to 16-8.

The Hoyas’ early deficit was a significant factor in setting them back against one of the top teams in the country.

“We didn’t show up for the first 12 goals. Maryland is really good, and they’re even better when you go slow,” Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “After the long deficit, I thought we responded well and played a good 40 minutes. However, you cannot dig yourself that deep of a hole against a team that has that much talent.”

Graduate student transfer Morgan Rubin, who finished the game with one goal and two shots, acknowledged Maryland’s strength and the need for Georgetown to focus on its own gameplay in the future.

“We went out there and worked hard,” Rubin said. “Maryland is really fast, and we put a lot of work into practice, but we came out a little scared. We really need to focus on our game and not play to our opponents.”

For the Hoyas, senior attack Kristen Bandos scored a hat trick while five other players each had a goal. Bandos now has four goals so far this season and four points total, second behind senior captain Corinne Etchison, who currently leads the team with six points.

On the defensive end, junior goalkeeper Maddy Fisher tallied two saves, while senior goalkeeper Megan McDonald made seven saves in the 46 minutes she spent in the cage.

Further contributing to the team’s loss, junior attack Colleen Lovett picked up two yellow cards during the contest, and the Hoyas committed 15 total fouls compared to eight by the Terps.

Up next on Georgetown’s schedule is a road trip to New Jersey to play No. 9 Princeton (1-0), which won its first game of the season in a 14-6 victory over No. 10 Virginia (1-1) on Saturday.

Rubin says the team will look to improve in its game against Princeton and come up with the ball in situations where it struggled to keep possession against Maryland.

“We had a lot of trouble with ground balls and 50-50 balls. We need to focus on ball control and really just putting ourselves out there and working harder on recovery,” Rubin said.

Fried added that Georgetown must come out harder and stronger in gameplay.

“The biggest areas we need to work on are being physically and mentally tougher,” Fried said. “We need to realize that when we play to our ability, we can make good things happen. I don’t know whether or not we are going to win or lose our next game even if we play our best game, but I do know that at least we gave ourselves a better opportunity. It’s focusing on what we want to do, how we want to do it and just being tougher.”

Georgetown’s game against Princeton will start at 1 p.m. in Princeton, N.J. on Feb. 27.