The Penn State sideline was active for the entire length of Friday’s home game against Maryland. Loud cheers for big goals and saves. An impressive synchronized row-boat celebration after an early first-half score. An impromptu dance party after a late-game goal, complete with EDM music echoing around Panzer Stadium and one player dropping to the grass to do the worm.

So it was only fitting that the game’s closing image was yet another picture of celebration. After goalie Taylor Suplee knocked away the Terrapins’ final free-position attempt with just one second left on the clock, the Nittany Lions bench swarmed the field, eager and ready as ever to celebrate the program’s first win over Maryland since 2005.

“The energy all over the field and on the sideline, we were just having so much fun, which was the best part about it,” sophomore attacker Olivia Dirks said. “It didn’t even really feel like such a serious game because we were confident in everything that we were doing.”

Dirks led all scorers with five goals in Penn State’s 15-13 win over the then-No. 8 Terrapins in State College, a result that shot the Nittany Lions from unranked to the No. 10 spot in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20. 

Maryland dominated the stat-sheet — 38 shots to Penn State’s 28; 23 draw controls to 6; 14 free-position shots to 1 — but the Nittany Lions never trailed after the opening goal, and, behind a huge performance from Suplee in the cage, shut the Terrapins down defensively.

Coach Missy Doherty called her team’s ability to pull out a win despite falling short in some statistical categories a testament to the group’s grit and perseverance.

“It does say a lot about the team being out-drawn and out-free-positioned to still grind away and come up with the win,” she said. “I’m proud of them for that because even though we were struggling [in areas like] the draw, they really made some great plays in other areas.”

Penn State’s two key offensive moments came at the end of each half. Already holding a 6-4 lead, the Nittany Lions scored a pair more in the last three minutes of the first to take a four-goal lead into the break. At the game’s end, as Maryland slowly edged back into reach, Dirks found the net three times in a four-minute span to seal the deal.

“My teammates really did an awesome job of creating space for me, and I just tried not to think too much,” she said. “When I got the ball toward the end of the game, I just let my instincts take over and trusted what I’ve been working on with the coaches, dodging hard and making the most of every opportunity.”

As Dirks led the offensive charge, Suplee held down the fort on the defensive end. The Maryland native shined in the shortened 2020 season as one of the nation’s top young goalkeepers, averaging 12.43 saves per game — the most in the Big Ten and second-most in the country.

Suplee’s 14-save performance against the Terrapins pushed her higher into a number of national categories — she now ranks fourth in saves (26) and leads all players with 12 ground balls —  and she earned her second straight Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor.

The Nittany Lions’ biggest challenges likely still lie ahead: A two-game series on March 5 and 7 at No. 4 Northwestern is next on their schedule. The Wildcats and their high-scoring, 23-goals-per-game offense will be the biggest offensive threat Suplee has faced since then-No. 5 Loyola (Md.) last February.

Penn State will spend the week readying for that matchup at Northwestern, but it has found time to savor the moment and significance of a win over a program like Maryland. Doherty is a Terrapin alum herself, having helped Maryland to a 68-2 record and three national titles from 1994-97.

In 11 years as head coach at Penn State and seven years prior at Towson, she’d faced her alma mater 15 times, but Sunday was the first time she’d been on the winning side.

“Maryland’s an awesome opponent, and to be able to make those plays against a great team like that does mean a lot,” Doherty said. “What I take away and the memories that I have are making those clutch plays, and that’s what the players will take with them, too. I want to keep competing.”