Former Rumson Star Megan Douty: Winning NCAA Lacrosse Title Was ‘Indescribable’

By Ella Brockway - Shore Sports Network contributor

When University of Maryland star defender Megan Douty looks back on her college days, she will see a host of accolades.

On the women’s college lacrosse stage, she was named the ACC Defender of the Year, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and a Tewaaraton finalist (an award given to the most outstanding player in college lacrosse) two years in a row. Now, she can add another title to that list - two-time national champion.

Douty and the Maryland Terrapins won their second straight and thirteenth overall national championship on May 24 with a 9-8 win over North Carolina at PPL Park in Philadelphia. It was a familiar setting for Douty and her team, but the experience was still a bit surreal.

“The feeling is indescribable,” said Douty, who just completed her senior season. “We worked really hard this season, and to see it all come together in the end was truly amazing.”

In the epic, down-to-the-wire conclusion to the Terps’ 21-1 season, Douty picked up two ground balls and caused one turnover to help shut down the Tar Heels' offense that had controlled the first half. The captain brought her team back from a three-goal halftime deficit, and avenged a loss to North Carolina from the 2013 championship game during her sophomore year.

“Our chemistry together on and off the field definitely contributed to our successful season,” she said. “We only graduated two starting players last year, so we were lucky enough to return, and pick up where we left off.”

Douty’s spectacular win on college lacrosse’s biggest stage happened only 105 miles away from where it all began for her—on the fields of Rumson-Fair Haven High School.

In her four years as a Bulldog, Douty scored over 100 goals and recorded over 200 takeaways, ranking her as one of the best to come through the storied Rumson girls’ lacrosse program in recent years. As a junior, she played a major role in securing the Bulldogs' first Shore Conference Tournament title in 2010 and was a part of the group that, with five other future Division I players, began what many around the Shore call the dynasty of Rumson-Fair Haven lacrosse.

Douty also led the Bulldogs to the A Central Division championship in 2010, and was named the team MVP that same year. Head coach Amy O’Keefe, who has seen more than a dozen players move from her program to the collegiate level, said that Douty stood out for her leadership both on and off the field during her time in the purple and white.

“Megan led by example in every instance on and off the field, and was a complete role model for the underclassmen,” O’Keefe said. “Her passion for the game, hard work, and her dedication to improving her game each and every day was really something special.”

When it came to choosing where to play after high school, Douty was attracted to the University of Maryland for both academic and athletic reasons.

“I was drawn to the University of Maryland because of the coaching staff, and the success of the program,” she said of her decision. “Academically, I knew I could excel in my major of choice, kinesiology.”

Veteran coach Cathy Reese’s record with the Terrapins certainly impressed Douty. In five years, Reese had brought Maryland to five NCAA Tournaments, winning one in 2010 and advancing to the championship game in 2011.

Douty’s Shore Conference roots stayed with her once she entered Division I play. The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference, to which Maryland moved from the ACC for the 2015 season, each have their share of athletes from the Jersey Shore. Douty found the competition in Division I familiar, especially with her travel team experience, and transferred the lessons learned at Rumson into her game at Maryland.

“When I played for RFH, I was able to learn how important it is to work hard as both an individual and as a team,” she said. “These lessons carried over into my college career, and allowed me to grow into the player I am today.”

From the moment she stepped on the field for her first game in a Terps uniform, Douty hit the ground running. She started every game in both her freshman and sophomore years, but it was her play during her junior year that really earned her recognition as one of the top defenders in the country.

Douty was second on the team in ground balls in 2014, with a total of 36 on the year, and was named the National Defender of the Year by the Intercollegiate Women’s College Coaches Association, Inside Lacrosse and womenslax.com.

Also in the 2014-15 season, Douty spent time playing on the U.S. National Team, where the competition was on an even higher scale than it had been in the ACC.

“Playing for the U.S. National Team was a great experience,” she said. “The speed of the game makes that level of play so much fun and exciting.”

In her senior season, she was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, and recorded 30 ground balls with 23 caused turnovers. She was named to the All-NCAA Tournament team, and carved her place in Maryland lacrosse history by starting every game she played for the Terps.

Even though her time playing in college may be over, her lacrosse career is not over yet. Just three days after being named the IWCLA Defender of the Year for the second year in a row, Douty learned that she was named a member of the 2015-16 U.S. National Team, where she, along with eight other players from Maryland and others from across the country, will train in the lead up to the 2017 World Cup.

She sees a possible future in physical therapy and is spending the summer doing small group training and individual lessons for young athletes in the area, along with work at the UnitedX Strength and Conditioning Gym in Howell.