Leubecker is one of eight fifth-year players on the team who returned to keep the Terps’ championship trend going. Their experience is spread across the field, from goalie Emily Sterling through a new-look defense that is formidable again with Brianna Lamoureux and Aiden Peduzzi teaming up with transfers Meghan Ball and Sophie Halus and sophomores Kennedy Major and Neve O’Ferrall. They have come together quickly and are tied for eighth in scoring defense at 7.80 goals allowed per game.
Another fifth-year, Shaylan Ahearn, has Maryland top 20 on the draw — so the Terps have won plenty of possession. It’s the finishing on offense that has been most troubling, and that has played into some slower finishes. The Terps are confident they can fix their shooting woes, and when they figure it out, they will be that much stronger.
“Even within these wins, I think we’ve been able to learn a lot about ourselves and what we need to do to get better,” Reese said. “That’s what’s sort of encouraging and exciting about this team is the fact that we still have so much room to grow.”
The Terps are No. 109 out of 120 Division I teams in shooting percentage. They have connected on 35.5 percent of shots after shooting 42.2 percent last year.
“It can only go up,” attacker Eloise Clevenger said. “I think it’s just having that confidence to be able to stick it.”
Clevenger, the senior who orchestrates the offense, is correct. The Terps have been generating tons of opportunities. Their 34.4 shots per game are good for 16th in the country, but Maryland is 58th in scoring at 12.2 goals per game, a number that would certainly rise if its shooting percentage improves.
“If you overthink it, if you get too in your head about shooting, it’s not going to help you,” Leubecker said. “We’re generating good offense. We just have to be able to have the confidence and mental capacity to finish the shot, finish the play.”
The Terps are 26th nationwide in shots on goal per game (24.0), so they’re not completely inaccurate. They just have to be better.
“A lot of the goalies we’ve seen are really good,” Clevenger said. “Attacking wise, we have to take that extra second just to throw in a fake and find the back of the net.”
Reese loved seeing more balance out of Maryland in the win over Denver. The Terps’ leading scorers were Victoria Hensh with a hat trick and Maggie Weisman, who scored twice. Clevenger, Leubecker, Libby May, Kori Edmondson and Shannon Smith all scored once.
The Terps still want to get more players involved to give different looks. Clevenger, May, Edmondson and Leubecker have taken 63 percent of the team’s shots this year. Clevenger, who leads the team with 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists), has been more aggressive than ever. She’s on pace for more than 100 shots after never attempting more than 59 in a season, proving she’s more than just a feeder.