On a cloudy day in College Park, No. 2 Maryland field hockey had a cloudy performance. The Terps got all they could handle from their final nonconference foe Delaware, sitting level at the half against a team they would have expected to thoroughly beat.
In the end, Maryland was too much, as three timely second-half goals pushed the scoreline to 4-1 and the Terps to their 11th straight win to close out the nonconference slate.
It was Graduation Day for Maryland, as the program honored its five impactful
seniors with a pregame ceremony. The Terps made sure it was a day to remember for those five and not a day to forget.
“I just love being able to build with these five women,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “They represent everything about the work and the fitness level and the love of the game that these five women have displayed for four years.”
It was a sloppy beginning for both teams, with turnovers the predominant action. Maryland controlled the time-of-possession battle, but for a while, it couldn’t cash in. That was until the seventh minute, when sophomore Jordyn Hollamon picked up a loose ball in the shooting circle. She lifted a shot over the mass of bodies and into the net to get the scoring started.
Despite the early goal, Maryland continued to give the ball away, and one such turnover came back to bite the Terps. With just over five minutes left in the first quarter, Avary Miller somehow threaded a centering pass to Livia van’t Hek, who deflected the ball past goalie Alyssa Klebasko to knot the score at one.
The first quarter favored Maryland, continuing a season-long trend. The Terps held the ball for the majority of the frame and outshot the Blue Hens, 6-1, but Delaware only needed that singular shot to keep pace.
The Blue Hens continued to hold their own in the second quarter behind a stifling defense. Delaware frequently swiped the ball from the Terps and stopped all four of Maryland’s first-half penalty corners. Goalie Jane Baldy was sensational on Sunday, racking up three first-half saves.
Similar to the first quarter, the Blue Hens didn’t have too many opportunities offensively, but they nearly capitalized on the few chances they had. Just about five minutes into the second period, Katie Clarke slipped a great pass to the back post, but Josefina D’Alessandro failed to contact the ball as it soared out of bounds.
Overall, it was a rare disappointing first half for Maryland, which went to the locker room squared at one. The Terps often failed to connect on passes and committed lots of stick infractions. The frustration was evident, as Francisca Eschoyez slapped her thigh and Maci Bradford slammed her stick against the turf in annoyance.
“I think we got ourselves a little frustrated by not scoring goals,” said Meharg. “At halftime, we made some shape changes in the front field that got ourselves in the circle with a lot clearer patterns.”
Entering Sunday’s match, Maryland had scored 19 goals in the second halves of games. The Terps continued to excel in this area on Sunday, breaking through the tie with 10:30 to play in the third frame. While Delaware had slowed the pace of play up to that point, this time the Hens were one step too slow. After a quick rush, Brinkley Eyre linked up with Kendall Gilmore, who tipped the ball to the back of the cage off her front-post positioning to put the Terps ahead.
Delaware had an immediate fast break to open the final period, but Maryland hustled back on defense to make the stop. Then, the Terps turned defense into offense. Not even a minute later, Feliz Kuhne intercepted a pass, sprinted down the left wing and converted a shot from an impossible angle to double the lead.
Later on, Hollamon tallied a second score to wrap it up for the Terps.
“I think it’s just our work ethic. We come out hungry after halftime. The coaches pump us up, we pump each other up and I think … we want to do well for each other,” said Eyre on the team’s second half success. “We have the game plan, we have the strategy, we just have to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Three things to know
- Cause for concern? The past two games haven’t been a smooth operation for the Terps. Between a late blown lead against Princeton and a messy first half against Delaware, Maryland will need to rediscover its top form as Big Ten play intensifies.
- Teacher beats the student. With today’s victory over Tara Zollinger and Delaware, Missy Meharg is now 3-0 against her former players.
- Light schedule looming. The Terps’ next three contests will be against some of the Big Ten’s bottom-dwellers. The Terps will need to take advantage of these winnable games before the heaviest part of the schedule hits.
