Maybe there is something in the water or maybe the state just breeds the talent.
In Maryland, girls start playing lacrosse when they are barely big enough to carry their own sticks, and the boys are so small they have trouble supporting the helmet resting on their shoulders.
And those Maryland-bred players have found their way to Penn State.
Fourteen of the 29 players on the Penn State women's lacrosse team are from the state of Maryland, and coach Suzanne Isidor is, too.
The growth of lacrosse has exploded in the last 20 years, and the core of its popularity resides just below the Mason-Dixon Line. Starting as young as 5 years old, children in Maryland are exposed to the game through youth leagues and associations that jumpstart interest in the sport.
Penn State women lacrosse players and coaches from around the country have noticed the trend in Maryland breeding top-notch players. They say because the girls are exposed to the game at such a young age, they develop skills faster than other children in different parts of the country.
"All I know is when I was growing up, every 7-year-old girl was playing," Penn State freshman and Baltimore native Molly Fernandez said.
Fernandez said she was one of those 5-year-old girls running around with a stick a bit too large and she joked, "If you are from Maryland, you play lacrosse."
Ruthie Lavelle, the Maryland Youth Lacrosse Association's (MYLA) president and founder said the league has roughly 40,000 youth players and has produced many Penn State players. The recreational league is the largest and the most recognized in the state and is responsible for organizing leagues and games for young players ranging from 5 to 15 years old.
When MYLA started its first girl's league in 1988, Lavelle said there were about 200 girls enrolled. Since then, the numbers have increased to a new high. In the 2009 season, the number of girls registered was more than 20,000, making the number of girls in the league higher than boys. And this coming spring season, Lavelle expects a higher number of girls playing than ever before, she said.
But senior captain Margo Josephs didn't start playing lacrosse until seventh grade -- much later than many girls. Josephs, of Reistertown, Md., said she thinks the reason behind many players starting so young is embedded within family tradition. Joseph's parents are not Maryland natives and that is why, Josephs said, she didn't start until later.
Unlike Josephs, junior attacker Jen Steadman has a long line of lacrosse tradition in her family. Steadman's mom played lacrosse through high school, and her aunt played at Loyola. Steadman said she started playing in first grade and joked it was so long ago that her first stick was actually made of wood.
Meanwhile, senior Maria Valderas comes from a family of basketball stars, but she picked up lacrosse like many kids in Maryland do -- through popularity.
Valderas said Maryland's reputation for being a top-notch lacrosse region often attracts tournaments at the club level.
Penn State coach Isidor, an Annapolis, Md. native and former Nittany Lion standout, said she grew up playing lacrosse.
Isidor joked about how seriously people in Maryland take their statewide-recognized sport. She said people have lacrosse T-shirts, lacrosse hats, lacrosse everything. The sport is just a part of the culture, Isidor said.
"People have bumper stickers say lacrosse is the unofficial sport of Maryland," Isidor said.
