Local talent in women's final four, just no local teams
While attention locally is understandably focused on the men’s collegiate championships this weekend, the women’s Division I title will be decided this weekend as well in Philadelphia at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus.
Don’t strain yourself looking for Maryland-based teams among the final four. For a fourth straight season, there are none, marking the longest absence for Old Line State teams in the national semifinals since the NCAA began offering a championship tournament in 1982.
It’s not that there aren’t Maryland players among the four teams (Duke, two-time defending champion Northwestern, Penn and Virginia) who vie tomorrow. In all, the names of 27 Maryland players, from private and public schools alike, dot the rosters, with 19 of them playing for Duke and Virginia alone.
But, for whatever reason, Maryland, the historic hotbed of lacrosse, has had a hard time in recent years getting its local schools to the Promised Land of the Final Four.
The most obvious explanation comes from Title IX, the landmark federal legislation that has increased opportunities for women in all aspects of education, including athletics.
To be in Title IX compliance, more schools have added more sports for women over the last three decades, lacrosse included, so there are more places for young women to play the game in college, many of which are not in Maryland.
And on a high school level, there is more lacrosse talent spread throughout the country, or hadn’t you noticed that the school that ended Mount Hebron’s 103-game streak, West Genesee, is located in New York?
Of course, there’s no reason to believe that Maryland, which has nine titles, Loyola, which has made three Final Four appearances in the last 10 years, and Johns Hopkins can’t make tournament runs in the future, fueled by in-state players. Between the three schools, 47 Maryland players are on their rosters.
At the same time, two of the senior stars of the Mount Hebron team, which just notched its 11th straight state title, Jacqueline Giles and Bria Eulett, are headed for Georgetown and Richmond, respectively, next year.
Speaking of Mount Hebron, you can get a look at their championship win over North Harford, as well as the other five boys and girls public school title matches on Comcast’s “On Demand" function, starting June 1. The games will be free to digital subscribers.
That, of course, leaves satellite and non-Comcast subscribers out in the lurch, but, between Comcast Sports Net and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, there’s enough down time to get these games on the air, right?
