A team from Maryland has not reached the Division I women's lacrosse final four since 2003.

That would hardly seem a lengthy drought by most standards, but lacrosse standards are pretty high around here.

After all, the University of Maryland has won nine NCAA championships and gone to the final four 16 times in the 26-year history of the tournament. Loyola has been in six final fours.

Now that the final four is back in Maryland this spring - at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium on Memorial Day weekend - can a Maryland team get back into the semifinals?

Maryland and Johns Hopkins came close last season, reaching the NCAA quarterfinals. Every team from the state (except 2008 newcomer Navy) has qualified for the tournament at least once since 2003.

The Terrapins, ranked No. 3 in the preseason, look especially tough with All-American Dana Dobbie, a Tewaaraton Trophy favorite. Johns Hopkins has three tournament appearances in four years to build on. Loyola appears rejuvenated after a couple of disappointing seasons.

But the path to the final four is getting more difficult all the time.

"I think it has less to do with schools in Maryland than it has to do with the whole changing environment of women's lacrosse," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said.

"Obviously, there are a lot of great players in Maryland. When I played [Maryland, 1990-1993], a lot of those kids stayed close to home and went to schools in Maryland. Not that some of them don't still do that, but now, there are so many schools across the country, coast to coast, that there are many more options out there."

Many coaches agree with Kimel.

"There are so many new programs that have done well, and they're very appealing schools," said Loyola coach Kerri O'Day, a Perry Hall graduate who also played at Loyola.

"Even though Maryland is one of the hotbeds of lacrosse, there are more options now for going out of state. Now, they can go East Coast, West Coast, Florida, California, Chicago. They can stay local or go out of town. They have proven to be great coaches at these schools. Talent isn't staying home anymore."

Between 1995 and 2005, women's college lacrosse grew 83.3 percent, according to the 2006 US Lacrosse Participation Survey. Over the 10 years ending in 2006, participation on the high school level grew 259.7 percent.

By 2010, seven Division I schools will add women's lacrosse - Navy, Cincinnati and Louisville this spring; Rhode Island and Fresno State next season; Florida and South Carolina the year after. That will bring the number of Division I programs to 88, up from 56 in 1997, according to NCAA statistics.

Not only are there more high school prospects around the country, but the top players from the hotbeds on the East Coast, including Baltimore, aren't all choosing the traditional powers.

Lellie Swords, who took over Cincinnati's program after seven years as assistant coach at Johns Hopkins, has six Baltimore-area women on her roster.

"I think there's more parity now with more schools and the talent is being spread out, whereas 10 years ago, all the power was in one place," Swords said. "It was primarily an East Coast sport, but now it's spreading. Being out here, I see how quickly it's growing."

Swords, Cindy Timchal at Navy and other coaches of new programs look to Northwestern for inspiration. Kelly Amonte Hiller's Wildcats proved a new team can succeed quickly.

In 2004, the Wildcats were newcomers to the NCAA tournament in only their third year as a varsity program. The next three years, they won national titles.

"Northwestern certainly raised the bar for new programs," Swords said. "For a brand-new program, you're selling to these kids the opportunity to build a program. You look at Northwestern and say, 'We could be like them.' "

Of course, Northwestern is the only program that made that kind of leap to the top. Since the national tournament began, only 10 programs have won the title. Since 1991, there have been only four champions - Maryland (eight times) and Northwestern, Princeton and Virginia (three each).

Newcomers, however, have broken into the final four on a regular basis, giving hope that different, and not just new, teams can be equally successful.

Pennsylvania was a surprise in last season's final four, as were Notre Dame in 2006, Northwestern in 2005, Vanderbilt in 2004 and Cornell in 2002.

Although it will never be truly easy to break into the final four, all this parity might just make it a little less difficult, Towson coach Missy Doherty said.

"I do think it's more plausible ... for more teams to compete legitimately to go to the final four," Doherty said. "If I was at Towson before, it might have been harder to get to the final four because four teams were dominating. Now, the talent pool is spreading out so a team like Penn is able to get in. A team with a few good recruiting classes can surpass the regulars and get into the final four."

katherine.dunn@baltsun.com