As the clock approached zero in the first quarter of No. 2-seed Maryland field hockey’s first-round matchup against Wagner, Josie Hollamon lofted an aerial ball towards the shooting circle. Somehow, Feliz Kuhne snuck behind Wagner’s defense, waited for the ball to fall from the heavens and slapped it into the net off a bounce.
It was an improbable finish to cap off an improbable quarter, as the Terps scored five times en route to an 8-1 annihilation of the Seahawks. Maryland’s offensive explosion
tied for its largest margin of victory in four years.
In the Big Ten Tournament final Sunday, Maryland was shut out for the first time all season. On Friday, the Terps looked like a team on a mission, scoring first and often.
Maryland opened the scoring for the 19th time in 21 games. The Terps also netted multiple first-quarter goals for the fourth time in the last five games. Fast starts have been a trademark of this year’s squad.
A reason for the first-quarter blitzes has been the Terps’ ability to generate penalty corners. In the first 15 minutes on Friday, three of Maryland’s five goals came off set pieces. The Terps have scored 11 times on penalty corners in the first quarter this season.
Francisca Eschoyez got the party started 46 seconds in with a drag flick finish. 10 minutes later, Jordyn Hollamon made use of time and room on the left wing, sending a rocket to the bottom right corner of the cage.
The Terps were far from done in the initial period. A minute after Jordyn Hollamon’s goal, Maddie Vasilios deflected an airborne shot into the wide-open net. It was the first of three goals in a similar fashion the Terps scored.
Kuhne had a brace in the opening frame. Her first goal was a near-carbon copy of Vasilios’s finish, as the Seahawks left her unmarked in front of the net for an easy redirection off a penalty corner.
The scoring didn’t end after the first quarter, as Kuhne, Aida Ierubino and Maci Bradford all scored as the game progressed. Kuhne’s goal clinched her first career hat trick. She entered the game with just four goals overall.
While the sophomore finished as the leading scorer, the Terps’ scoring was well-distributed — six different players scored a goal.
Maryland didn’t learn who it would be playing until late Wednesday afternoon, when Wagner defeated Fairfield in the opening round. It was a quick turnaround for the Terps, but they made it look seamless.
The Terps’ defense was exceptional on Friday, holding Wagner shotless until the latter portion of the third quarter, when Wagner scored to end the shutout. The Terps limited the Seahawks to just five shots, the second-fewest they’ve surrendered all season.
Three things to know
- Five for the first time. Maryland scored five goals in the opening quarter for the first time in program history on Friday.
- Eight is great. Maryland scored eight goals in a match for the first time since 2024, when the Terps dropped eight on Lock Haven. That game also finished 8-1 for the Terps; the last time they won by more than seven goals was an 11-0 demolition of Georgetown in 2022.
- Who’s next? Maryland will await the winner of No. 7-seed Iowa and Duke’s Friday afternoon matchup. The Terps handled the Hawkeyes in both the regular-season finale and the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, while they shocked Duke with a 3-2 comeback victory in September.
