Three Up, Three Down: Penn women's lacrosse vs. Maryland

Coming off a spring break in which it won its first two Ivy contests of the 2014 season, the Penn women's lacrosse team returns to action on Wednesday against No. 2 Maryland (9-0). The Red and Blue's matchup with the Terrapins marks the first of four consecutive nonconference games for No. 12 Penn before resuming Ivy play on April 12.

Three Up-

Defensive Play: Both Penn (4-1) and Maryland are two of the top defensive teams in the nation. Led by goalkeeper Lucy Ferguson, the Quakers have allowed only 7.4 goals per contest in 2014, the 11th best mark in the country. However, in nine games this year, the Terps have given up only 6.56 goals per game. As a result, Wednesday's game is expected to be a low-scoring affair.

Maryland's Past 32 Games: The past two seasons have been a nearly perfect stretch for the No. 2 team in the country. The Terps have won 31 of their last 32 games, including their first nine of the 2014 campaign. In fact, over the past two seasons, Maryland's only loss remains its triple-overtime defeat to North Carolina in last year's national championship game.

Penn's Offensive Distribution: Senior attack Tory Bensen has been incredible for the Quakers thus far this season, notching 13 goals in only five contests. Though Bensen leads Penn in scoring, the Quakers feature a variety of additional weapons. Of Penn's 45 goals in 2014, 19 of those scores have come from sophomore players, including nine from midfield Lely DeSimone.

Three Down-

Playing North Carolina: If only teams could avoid playing those pesky Tar Heels. Penn did battle with top-ranked North Carolina in its season opener. Despite playing the Tar Heels close for a half, the defending national champions eventually pulled away. As for Maryland, a sudden death North Carolina goal in the third overtime of last year's title game was the only thing separating the Terps from an undefeated season.

Penn's History with Maryland: In 21 meetings with Maryland since 1980, the Quakers have had little success when doing battle with the Terrapins. Since defeating Maryland in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, Penn has gone winless against the Terps, having dropped all five meetings that matchup. Last year against top-ranked Maryland, the Quakers dropped a tense road contest, 15-10.

Slowing down Maryland: Though Penn has one of the country's top defenses, the Terps consistently pack a punch. Maryland's seventh-ranked attack is led by sophomore Taylor Cummings, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, with 28 goals and 41 pointsrestructured sentence moving "Maryland's seventh-ranked attack" to beginning of sentence. While Cummings ranks sixth in the nation in goals scored, her teammate, junior Kelly McPartland, has added 25 goals for Maryland, tenth-best in the country.