With 10 minutes left in its contest against Northeastern, No. 11 Maryland field hockey midfielder Ella Fehr could see the back of the net clear as day.
She ran down the field, and even with a pack of Northeastern defenders on her tail, she shot. Goalkeeper Arabella Loveridge managed to stick her hand pad in the mix, sending the ball upwards.
Maya Everett watched the ball fly past her face, and on instinct, raised her stick, hitting the rebounded ball to the net.
Everett’s first goal of the season sealed
the deal for Maryland’s shut-out victory, 4-0, Sunday at the Plex in the Terps’ season finale.
The ball crossed the entire field in just a minute and half at the opening of Sunday’s game. Neither team could find the back of the net on their first possession, and play continued between the attack zones.
Maryland’s defenders pulled on their gear for a defensive penalty corner just five minutes into the game. Northeastern’s attempt flew wide of the net, keeping the ball with the Terps as they advanced down the field.
Freshman Brinkley Eyre came running in off the bench for the 11th time this season, sprinting immediately towards the Huskies’ shooting circle. She found herself with possession, but without a clear avenue towards the net, she passed to her left.
Forward Maddie Vasilios was on the receiving end of the pass, and with a quick swing, sent the ball flying to the back of the cage for the first score of the game.
Just four minutes later, Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko dove into action. In a one-on-one battle against Northeastern’s Juan Gonzales-Peyruo, the goalkeeper slid to the right, cutting off any chance of tying the game.
With three seconds left in the first quarter, the Terps lined up around the Huskies’ shooting circle, hoping to double their lead with an offensive penalty corner. Midfielder Maia Adamson inserted the ball to Feliz Kuhne, whose shot was unsuccessful as buzzers sounded to end the quarter.
Play continued mostly on Northeastern’s half of the field in the second quarter. Maryland’s defense shifted forward to lock down the midfield, while its offense coordinated attacks in the shooting circle.
“We worked in and out of a bunch of different defenses in the front,” Mayrland head coach Missy Meharg said. “I liked the way that the midfielders attacked with the forwards. I think we got momentum.”
Eventually, the Terps pressed the Huskies into defensive errors, earning their second corner of the game in the process.
Adamson inserted across the circle, this time meeting captain Josie Hollamon. Hollamon swung right down the middle, connecting with the back of the net. Even after video review, the score was upheld, doubling the Terps’ lead.
Maryland sparked a touch of success in penalty corners after a season-long struggle in capitalizing on them.
“We’ve got better spacing in the circle, we’re leading to the ball and posting up, we’ve got rotation,” Meharg said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
With three minutes left in the half, the Huskies finally switched their offensive strategy to catch the Terps off guard. After two full quarters of easily-intercepted long passes, Northeastern switched to short passes to get down the field.
Maryland didn’t take the bait, though. Its midfielders snatched possession from the Huskies before bringing the ball back to the shooting circle. Midfielder Callie Rogers intercepted a Huskies pass, redirecting the ball and eventually earning two penalty corners.
The Terps’ success on the back of penalty corners quickly faded — they didn’t hit paydirt again — and the first half came to a close.
The third quarter opened almost immediately with two penalty corners in Maryland’s favor, but it couldn’t convert either.
For the next five minutes, play continued almost exactly how it did in the first two quarters. Maryland’s offense took control of possession, keeping the ball down in Huskies territory.
In their fourth penalty corner of the quarter, Adamson and Rogers battled the goalie in front of the net. Loveridge logged two back to back saves, keeping the Terps scoreless for the period.
Northeastern crossed into their own attack territory for the first time in the half with shy of three minutes left of the period, even after a bad pass and a few hard whistles along the way. Maryland’s defense retreated to their positions in the circle.
The ball stayed with the Terps as the fourth quarter began, almost replicating gameplay from the rest of the game.
With shy of 12 minutes left of the quarter, Feliz Kuhne marched down the field with possession. She passed to Ella Gaitan, whose look toward the goal was clouded with Huskies. She slid the ball across to Jordyn Hollamon.
The freshman redeemed herself from last quarter, blasting the ball to the back of the cage.
With two minutes left, Northeastern finally pivoted toward their own attack zone, notching one more shot-on-goal. Klebasko swooped into action once again, logging her 57th save of the season and keeping the Huskies scoreless.
Without time to even log another goal, Maryland walked off the Plex for the last time this year, victorious in College Park.
Captain Josie Hollamon was incredibly proud of her team’s performance on Sunday, but still believes that there’s more on the horizon.
“I think it could be a little bit better, if I’m being nitpicky,” Hollamon said. “I am proud that we were able to put the ball [in the] cage and get a lot of outcomes.
Three things to know:
1. First offensive explosion in a while. Maryland hasn’t scored four goals in a game since Aug. 31 in its shut out against Villanova.
2. Sisters by chance, scorers by choice — again. Both Hollamon sisters contributed a goal to Sunday’s victory. The last time that happened was in Maryland’s victory over Penn State on Sept. 26.
3. Persistent penalty corner woes. Maryland took 13 offensive penalty corners, but only scored on the back of one of them. Penalty corners will be a key area of interest in training as the team prepares for tournament season.
