No. 11 Maryland field hockey couldn’t keep up with No. 4 Virginia’s offense as the Cavaliers sped through the midfield with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Cavalier Suze Leemans took a huge swing from the edge of the circle, but her attempt was slightly off target. This gave Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko the opportunity to post what would’ve been her eighth save of the game, possibly keeping the game tied at nothing. She took to the ground, sliding her leg to block the shot.
But Leemans’
teammate Riley Savage redirected the ball, allowing it to go around Klebasko’s foot and to the back of the net.
Exactly 92 seconds later, the Cavaliers replicated their offensive drive to the net, doubling their lead and leaving Maryland in the dust.
The Terps couldn’t answer Virginia’s back-to-back goals, costing them another ranked match, 2-0.
The first penalty corner came in Virginia’s favor three-and-a-half minutes into the game. Cavaliers midfielder Suze Leemans took the first shot of the day, but Maryland’s rock-solid defense kept the ball from connecting. Immediately after, the ball moved down the field, restarting another high speed, midfield faceoff.
Six minutes later, Maryland freshman Jordyn Hollamon stripped possession from a Cavalier in front of her attack zone before sprinting to the opposite 25-yard line. The ball stayed with Maryland, eventually finding forward Feliz Kuhne inside the shooting circle. Kuhne took the Terps’ first shot in a one-on-one with Virginia’s goalkeeper, but was blocked.
In Virginia’s second penalty corner with two minutes left of the quarter, Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko posted two saves in a row. The goalkeeper dove for the ball and swatted it away with her left-hand pad, keeping the game tied at zero as the clock ran out.
“[Klebasko]’s exceptional,” Maryland head coach Missy Meharg said. “She had a couple of flurries of saves there that really kept us in it for a period of time.”
At the start of the second quarter, Fleur Knopert suffered a hit to the chin while blocking a shot in the shooting circle. Afterwards, she put on her mask and gloves to defend the cage in a penalty corner. Klebasko kicked another shot clear of the circle, passing it down the field to her teammates on offense.
Play continued in the midfield for the next 10 minutes. Both teams ripped possession from each other, but to avail as neither team took a shot for the entire stretch.
With three minutes left of the quarter, Feliz Kuhne took another unguarded shot. This time, her attempt veered wide of the net, sending the game to halftime with no score.
On a new side of the field, Virginia opened the second half with possession. The Cavaliers’ offense fired off a shot in under 90 seconds, but captain and defender Ericka Morris-Adams blocked it, instead sending it across the field.
Maci Bradford took to the shooting circle just two minutes later. As soon as the ball crossed into the circle, she wound up and shot, but her attempt rolled off target.
Seconds later, Virginia drove down the field with possession, penetrating the shooting circle with force. Klebasko logged another pair of saves twice allowing the ball to hit her stomach instead of the back of the net. Knopert followed suit, taking a dive of her own to help knock the ball out of the cage.
Gameplay continued in a range wider than just the midfield. Both teams pressed down in front of their opponents’ attack zones, but neither team could slide past the defense to score.
With six minutes left in the quarter, hard whistles kept the ball with Virginia in its defending zone. Brinkley Eyre intercepted the ball from the Cavaliers, and passed it to freshman midfielder Maia Adamson. Adamson swung off target, letting the ball roll out of bounds.
Maryland earned its first offensive penalty corner with two minutes left of the third quarter. Feliz Kuhne took her fifth shot of the game, but still without success. Virginia’s goalkeeper, Nilou Lempers, posted her third of six total saves in the game, sending the match into the final quarter still tied at zero.
The first six minutes of the fourth quarter didn’t see much change. Maryland drove through to the shooting circle but met the Cavaliers’ defense, and Virginia met the same fate on the other side of the field.
On the back of their consecutive scores, Virginia’s defense began to unravel in the final minutes of the game.
The Terps drew three penalty corners in just three minutes, but couldn’t capitalize on any of them. The first two shots met Lempers in the goal, while Jordyn Hollamon’s third and final attempt was knocked away by Cavaliers outside of the net.
Without the time to create more action on offense, the Terps fell to the Cavaliers in a shutout.
Three things to know
1. Penalty corner struggles. So far this season, Maryland has taken 104 offensive penalty corners. The Terps have only scored on 11 of them, meaning that 89% of their penalty corner shots were unsuccessful. Missing penalty corner shots
2. Kunhe’s standout day. Feliz Kunhe took three shots-on-goal, the most she’s ever taken in a single game. The midfielder is the only freshman aside from Jordyn Hollamon to take that many in just one match. 3. Fourth quarter woes continue. The Terps haven’t scored in the fourth quarter in a game since Oct. 10th against Iowa. Maryland’s performance in the final stretch hasn’t improved, costing them four ranked matches.
