COLLEGE PARK — The difference between starting and coming off the bench is often a matter of seconds for Kristen Lamon.
As each Maryland women's lacrosse game starts, the senior attacker waits on the sideline to see which team wins the draw. When the Terps get possession, as they have two-thirds of the time this season, a defender runs off and Lamon races into the attack.
"It's an interesting role," Maryland coach Cathy Reese said, "because it's just the way we choose to start. We start defensive-heavy … on the draws, just to make sure we're prepared defensively, and once we get on the offensive end, we get her in. If we went four defenders and four attackers, obviously, she would hear her name announced before the game" as a starter.
Having Lamon (pronounced LAY-mun) come off the sideline gives the Terps' offense an added dimension. If the opposition doesn't pick her up right away, the St. Mary's graduate won't hesitate to make them pay.
"She's a great finisher, so if we can hit her as she's cutting down initially from the sideline, she can score," Reese said. "That's been a strength of hers. We saw it in the national championship [last year], when she scored three goals, and a couple of those were because of her coming in and being open in front of the cage."
Lamon converted passes from Erin Collins and Kelly McPartland in the first four minutes of the NCAA tournament final as the Terps took a 5-0 lead and never trailed en route to a 15-12 win over Syracuse, their first national championship since 2010.
Throughout games, she's on and off the field: in when Maryland attacks, out when it defends.
Her teammates look for her every time she returns, but sometimes their transition offense is so fast, the ball hits the net before Lamon can get there.
"It happens a lot of times, a lot more than you'd think," Lamon said with a laugh. "Sometimes I'll be halfway in and we end up scoring, but I'll still run in and support my teammates and give them a pat on the back, and I just run right back out."
Much of what she does depends on the opponent's defense.
"A lot of teams notice that someone is running in off the box," Lamon said, "but sometimes we are able to catch them off guard and I'm able to cut through the middle. It's not always open, but it allows our offense to flow a little better to have a girl cut through and make more space for other people to drive down to the goal."
Her teammate and former high school foe Taylor Cummings, a McDonogh graduate and the Terps' leading scorer, said Lamon brings a quiet leadership to the field.
"She's played in a lot of different games and she's a senior, so she obviously has a lot of experience," Cummings said. "She just sort of brings an energy onto the field — where she just wants to be out there so bad, and she loves playing — that we all feed off of."
Lamon has started a few games, usually when a teammate is injured, but she has settled into her on-and-off role as she approaches the final stretch of her college career. The senior will be a key offensive option as top-seeded Maryland (18-1) meets Northwestern (14-6) in the NCAA quarterfinals at noon Sunday in College Park.
The Terps and eighth-seeded Wildcats, coached by former Maryland teammates Reese and Kelly Amonte Hiller, have met four times in the past five seasons in the NCAA tournament, all during Championship Weekend. Maryland won, 9-6, in last season's NCAA semifinal and again in March's inaugural Big Ten Conference women's lacrosse game, 16-5. The Wildcats' last win in the series came in their 2012 national semifinal.
Lamon had two goals and an assist in the regular-season win at Northwestern. She ranks sixth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and nine assists, including three goals and an assist in a 13-10 win over Big Ten foe Penn State, also an NCAA quarterfinalist.
"She's a really smart player, and I think she uses her height to her advantage," Penn State coach Missy Doherty said of the 5-foot-9 Lamon. "Against Maryland, you might try to stop primarily their [leading scorers], but if you slide and you go double them, that means you're leaving somebody. A lot of times, Kristen really takes advantage of that and pops in as the open player."
Some of Lamon's fearlessness around the goal comes from the backyard games she played with her brothers John, 27, and Matt, 25, who played at Towson.
"They did not take it easy on me, that's for sure," Lamon said. "They always pushed me harder and harder. My brother John was more of a midfield player, but Matt was a straight attacker and he was always out shooting with me. They helped make me better, substantially."
Their father, John Lamon, remembers Kristen, 21, wanting to play because her brothers did.
"They were certainly her role models," John Lamon said. "She was kind of an overachiever, but subtly. She was just a little girl, and she got it done and seemed to have fun at it. We always told her, 'If you don't like it, don't play,' but it was one of those things where she just kept overachieving."
When his daughter went to St. Mary's, Lamon said he told the Saints' coach that he just wanted to see her play on the junior varsity.
"He said, 'I hate to tell you, but I think she's going to be on the varsity,' " Lamon recalled. "And I was like, 'Oh, my gosh.' She just got after it and made it her passion."
Kristen Lamon said she knew she wanted to play college lacrosse close to home, but the day she chose Maryland over Loyola Maryland and Johns Hopkins, John Lamon couldn't have been happier. He played lacrosse at Maryland, as did his brother Chris and sister Gretchen.
"I always wanted to be close to home," Kristen Lamon said. "Having my family be able to come to my games was a huge priority. I have lots of aunts and uncles and cousins."
Much of her family will be on hand Sunday, when Lamon and 10 senior classmates play their final home game, with a trip to PPL Park in Chester, Pa., for next weekend's final four on the line.