Ron Snyder: Maryland lacrosse players become stars out of state

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Maryland without a doubt is home to some of the most talented women’s lacrosse players in the entire country.

For those on the outside, though, that may be hard to understand considering that the University of Maryland was the state’s lone representative in this year’s NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse tournament.

However, a closer look among the 16-team field provides proof that women’s lacrosse in Maryland is stronger than ever. In all, 136 players competing this postseason honed their craft at Maryland high schools: a source of pride for area club and high school coaches.

Maryland leads the field of local talent with 20 players on its roster, but many other recruits now seek opportunities to travel out of state. This includes top-seeded Duke (13 Maryland players), fifth-seeded North Carolina (18) and eighth-seeded James Madison (14).

But the greatest impact by local players came from more than 3,000 miles away as 10 Marylanders played key roles in Stanford’s historic postseason berth. Stanford’s inclusion, the tournament’s first by a West Coast team, busted Johns Hopkins’ postseason bubble.

“To create a successful program, you need one player to look away from the historically-traditional lacrosse powers and take a chance on a school that can offer you a great opportunity like we can here,” said sixth-year Stanford coach Michele Uhlfelder, a Pikesville High and Maryland alumna.

Coaches starting or building lacrosse programs use Maryland players to build credibility and to help plant the seeds for new youth and high school programs in their own home states. This is an ever-growing reality at a time when women’s lacrosse is spreading across the country at a rapid pace.

Northwestern is the leader in this regard, something it proved when it became the first non-East Coast national champion in 2005.

“What Maryland players bring to the table is the knowledge and skills level from so much experience against top-level competition at the high school and club levels,” North Carolina coach Jenny Levy said. “North Carolina is growing when it comes to lacrosse, but it’s still not at Maryland’s level.”

While an increase in playing and travel opportunities are great for the student-athletes and the sport in general, getting the state’s top lacrosse players to stay and play at home is a much greater challenge for local college coaches than it was five or 10 years ago.

Towson, Mount St. Mary’s and Johns Hopkins are all teams that made the 2005 tournament, but are on the outside looking in this year.

But even then, those local schools showed they needed to improve after all got bounced in the first round.

Hopkins coach Janine Tucker understands this and does have 17 Maryland players on her roster. But, she added, that didn’t come without a lot of hard work.

“The name of the game now is recruiting,” Tucker said. “You have to stay right on players today and can’t just sit back and wait for them to come to you like they did years ago.”

At the same time, as women’s lacrosse spreads across the country, local schools are reaping additional benefits in the form of increased competition and greater opportunities to travel.

“Winning now is more difficult than is years past, but it’s also more rewarding,” said Georgetown coach Ricky Fried, whose Hoyas have traveled to Stanford and Oregon.