As the clock ticked down at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex Sunday, players and fans alike stood on edge. No. 5 Maryland field hockey battled No. 4 Wake Forest in a scoreless duel, both teams hoping to pick up a signature September victory.
After 55 minutes, the Terps finally found the opening. On their fifth penalty corner of the game, Maci Bradford inserted the ball to Ella Fehr, who passed right back to Bradford on the near post. Wake Forest goalkeeper Ruby Butterfield – for the first time
Sunday – was out of position, and Bradford took advantage with an easy tap to the back of the cage. The late goal was all the Terps needed, as they notched their eight straight victory to open the season in 1-0 fashion.
“We’ve been working on that play a lot, and we’ve been training it just okay, but in that regard, you choose these corners to play and [Wake Forest has] never seen it,” said head coach Missy Meharg after the exciting finish. “We just said, ‘Hey, it’s open, so go ahead and use it,’ and they’re not expecting it. Clearly, it was the right decision.”
Neither squad found many first-quarter offensive opportunities on a damp, cloudy Sunday – Maryland had just two first-quarter shots while Wake Forest had three – and both frequently coughed up the ball in the midfield. However, each goalie – Alyssa Klebasko for Maryland and Ruby Butterfield for Wake Forest – made a save to hinder the scoring heading to the second quarter.
Wake Forest had the bulk of the opportunities early in the second quarter thanks to sloppy midfield play from Maryland. The Terps often found themselves scrambling back in transition as the Demon Deacons advanced after a turnover. Fortunately for Maryland, veteran defenders Josie Hollamon and Ella Fehr remained rock-solid to contain the Demon Deacons’ offense.
While both offenses remained relatively quiet in the second frame, they made sure to challenge the opposing team’s netminder with the limited chances they had. Lena Keller had Wake Forest’s best chance of the day at the 17-minute mark, but Klebasko was up to the task with another strong stop. Maryland’s premier opportunity came in the 24th minute when Maia Adamson took a whack at the cage, but Butterfield slid to the far post to make the denial.
At halftime, while both squads retreated to their respective locker rooms to make adjustments, Maryland honored its 2005 and 2006 national championship teams. The Terps went 46-4 over those two years and defeated Duke in 2005 and Wake Forest in 2006 to take the titles.
“It’s so exciting. They’re amazing,” said Meharg of her former players. “They’re all mid to young 30s and all of their children were here, so we had a full youth hockey game yesterday during the crab feast. It means a ton.”
The third quarter was a period of missed opportunities. Maryland forced a pair of penalty corners within the first two minutes of the frame but couldn’t break the deadlock, as Butterfield made another brilliant save. On the other side, Wake Forest had a player-advantage for over three minutes – thanks to a pair of Maryland green cards – but failed to find any offense. The Demon Deacons also had a pair of corners in the back portion of the frame but came up empty.
Overall, it was a defensive clinic from both sides throughout Sunday’s affair. Each side hustled back well to silence transition opportunities and turned off shooting lanes on limited penalty corner opportunities. It continued a trend for both teams: Maryland entered the game allowing an average of just 0.57 goals per game while Wake Forest came in allowing an average of one goal per game.
A big reason for that was the goalkeepers, both of whom made spectacular stops in transition. Butterfield arguably made the biggest denial of the game by rejecting a breakaway shot from Aida Ierubino with six minutes to play in regulation. Klebasko followed that up on the other side with a couple of key blocks to maintain the shutout.
The slate doesn’t get any easier for the Terps, as they’ll welcome an upset-minded Rutgers team on Friday before they hit the road to visit No. 3 Princeton next Tuesday. First hit on Friday is set for 4 p.m.
Three things to know
1. Eight is great. Maryland is 8-0 for the first time since 2018. That was the last time the Terps won the Big Ten Tournament.
2. Net minded. Alyssa Klebasko kept a clean sheet to earn her third shutout of the season. She’s now up to 19 for her career.
3. Cruising on the Atlantic Coast. Maryland finishes 3-0 against its former ACC foes, knocking off Boston College, Duke and now Wake Forest.
