Jen Adams is the greatest player in the history of women’s lacrosse.
The University of Maryland has the most storied women’s lacrosse program in NCAA history. In 41 seasons, the Terrapins are 644-133-3 [.828 winning percentage]. They hold every NCAA tournament record imaginable, including most appearances [32], most championships [13], most Final Fours [24] and most wins [61]. Maryland has been runner-up eight times and has appeared in five of the last six NCAA championship games, winning three of them. The Terps have only had four head coaches [one of whom only coached one year while filling in as a substitute for the 1975 season] in over four decades of existence. Cindy Timchal was head coach at Maryland for 16 seasons. In 1992—her second year at the helm—Timchal led UM to the NCAA title, the first of eight the school would win under her guidance. From 1995 to 2001, Maryland won seven straight national championships and went 119-5 [.959]. Timchal was 260-46 between 1991 and 2006. For nine of those seasons, she was assisted by Gary Gait [Daily Dose, 2/11/16], one of the greatest goal scorers in men’s collegiate lacrosse history. In 2011, 20 of her former players were coaching women’s college lacrosse programs. In 1998, she convinced Jen Adams to come to College Park and play lacrosse.
Born August 19, 1979, in Adelaide, South Australia—the country’s fifth-largest city—Jen Adams was raised in Brighton, a small beach town along Australia’s southern coast. She began her career with the Brighton Lacrosse Club and, at 15, led Team Australia to the 1995 U-19 World Championship. Three years later, Adams arrived at Maryland, where she helped the Lady Terps to the NCAA title. In 1999, she led UM to another NCAA title and was named national Player of the Year. Adams set UM and Division I single-season records as a junior, scoring 81 goals with 55 assists for 136 total points. That season, she led Maryland to a 21-0 record and was named 1999 National Player of the Year after leading UM to a third straight national championship. Adams was also named the 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference Female Athlete of the Year. Miss Adams saved her best for last, breaking her own single season records with 88 goals, 60 assists and 148 total points as a senior.
Maryland appeared in their seventh straight NCAA title game in 2001. The final against Princeton was close until Jen Adams turned it into a rout by scoring five goals and handing out five assists—all in the second half—to led the Turtles to a 16-8 victory. It was her fourth NCAA title in four years at Maryland, and she was again named college Player of the Year and ACC Female Athlete of the Year. The Sports Marketing and Management major was named first team Academic All-American and became the first female recipient of the Tewaaraton Trophy [Daily Dose, 9/25/15]—the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse—in history. Maryland finished the 2001 campaign with a record of 23-0, the second perfect season of Adam’s college career.
Jen Adams is the most prolific women’s lacrosse player in history. Innovative, unpredictable, and spectacular, she possessed a variety of moves that made her unstoppable. Playing attack, Adams was able to score with either hand and was the greatest dodger the sport has ever seen. She graduated Maryland with every NCAA and school career scoring record, including 267 goals, 178 assists and 445 total points. In 86 career games played, Adams averaged 5.17 points per contest. As a senior, she averaged an unfathomable 6.73 points in 23 games played. Following graduation, Adams–who was three times named “Attacker of the Year”–was drafted by the Washington Power of the professional National Lacrosse League, becoming the only female ever selected.
In 2005, Adams led Team Australia to a gold medal in the Women’s World Cup, where she led all players with 26 assists and 47 points. At the same event four years later, she helped the Koalas capture the silver medal while dishing out 26 assists and collecting 41 points to again lead all players.
After her collegiate playing days ended, Miss Adams joined the coaching ranks. She served as assistant head coach at the University of Denver [Daily Dose, 4/14/16] from 2004 to 2006 before assisting Cathy Reese at Maryland for two seasons. In 2009, the most decorated player in the annals of women’s lacrosse was named head coach at Loyola University of Maryland, where she implemented a fast, free-flowing system fashioned after her own style of play. Since joining the Patriot League in 2014, the Lady Greyhounds have won three straight conference titles. Adams has been named the league’s Coach of the Year three times and has led Loyola to five straight NCAA tournament berths. She also coached the Baltimore Ride of the professional United Women’s Lacrosse League in their inaugural 2016 season.
In 2006, Jen Adams was one of four former University of Maryland players named to the NCAA’s 25th Anniversary Women’s Lacrosse team. Cindy Timchal was selected as the team’s head coach.
