At the 11-minute mark of the third quarter, No. 7 Maryland field hockey already led St. Joseph’s by three goals. But the Terps wanted more.
From the deep right corner of her defensive zone, Francisca Eschoyez launched an aerial pass for Feliz Kuhne, and so began a textbook possession of field hockey. Kuhne quickly distributed the ball to her teammates, who seamlessly rotated to fill open areas. Eventually, Aida Ierubino found Babs van Hest on a pinpoint centering pass for an easy tap-in goal to make
it 4-0. The Terps added a fourth-quarter score to cruise to their sixth straight victory, 5-0.
“At the end of January, when we met with this group, we were like, ‘Let’s just play really good hockey,’” said head coach Missy Meharg. “Really good hockey shows trusting each other … and being selfless … so we did a tremendous amount of chemistry work, and I think you’re seeing that on the field.”
Maryland came flying out of the gate Sunday with an immediate transition goal. Ella Fehr broke up an attack and found van Hest on an outlet pass, and she did the rest. The Dutch forward outran her defender and whipped a shot past St. Joseph’s goalie Avianna Wagner to start the scoring just 2:30 into the match.
“Babs is a really big-time player,” praised Meharg. “She was set to come here last fall, actually, and decided to stay and play some club hockey at home … so she did come in January. She’s incredible, and she’s just gearing up.”
According to Meharg, the European leagues – including the Hoofdklasse, in which van Hest played – have different play styles compared to college. While it’s taken van Hest some time to adjust, she’s executed well, and she named her teammates as a major reason why.
“Our culture is making it so good, and that’s why I can score,” added van Hest. “We’re so well connected.”
The rest of the first quarter was characterized by a high volume of midfield play. The Terps had a pair of penalty corners in the back portion of the quarter but failed to cash in.
The second quarter was far more action-packed, especially on the St. Joseph’s side. The Hawks nearly had a transition goal of their own in the opening minutes of the frame, but Alyssa Klebasko continued her early case for Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year with a fantastic kick-save on a point-blank shot from Alex Enslin.
On the other side, Maryland had three straight penalty corners midway through the quarter, but not one shot made it to the cage. St. Joseph’s tightened up its defense to keep the deficit at just one.
However, that one-goal difference wouldn’t last much longer. The Terps continued to apply pressure and force penalty corners, and on their sixth set piece of the match, they finally found the back of the net. Drag flicker Eschoyez did the honors for her team-leading fifth tally of the season – all of which have come on penalty corners. The Hawks had no answers in the final few minutes as the contest rolled to intermission with the Terps up by a pair.
It was more of the same for the Terps in the second half. In the 33rd minute, relentless Maryland pressure resulted in a penalty stroke, which Eschoyez buried past Wagner to make it 3-0. Later on, Ierubino turned defense into offense by herself for the Terps’ fifth goal and the icing on the cake of a dominant weekend.
Maryland’s defense was just as good as its offense Sunday, especially in the second half. The Terps allowed six shots for the entire contest and just one in the final 30 minutes.
“Really pleased with our deep defense. That was the area that I was wondering how it would be,” said Meharg. “So far, we’ve been able to clean up around each other comfortably.”
The Terps have conceded just two goals in open play all season. Even when the opponent has applied pressure, Maryland has another defender ready to neutralize the threat.
“I think it’s really the fight that each of us have for each other,” said Erin Callahan on the Terps’ recipe for success on defense. “We love each other so much, so I feel like if I lose the ball, I know the people behind me are going to go get it.”
Big Ten play is next. The Terps will open their conference schedule on Thursday at Penn State. First hit is set for 5 p.m.
Three things to know
1. Fitting right in. 15 of Maryland’s 21 goals have been scored by newcomers, a huge boost after last year’s underwhelming offensive output.
2. Experience for everyone. All 21 players who were active for Sunday’s game stepped onto the field. This allowed Meharg and the rest of the coaching staff to evaluate their entire team in a live-game situation.
3. Still games going on in the non-con. Despite conference play beginning this week, Maryland’s non-conference schedule isn’t finished. The Terps still have No. 6 Wake Forest, No. 4 Princeton and Delaware left on their slate.
