Despite decades-long NCAA streak ending with offensive struggles, Maryland field hockey appears set for the future

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

For the first time in over 30 years, Maryland field hockey’s season didn’t involve the NCAA Tournament. 

After an upset loss to Ohio State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Terps’ postseason fate was left in the hands of the NCAA seeding committee. They determined that Maryland’s body of work didn’t warrant an at-large bid, and with no autoqualification, the Terps found themselves left out, ending a streak of NCAA Tournament appearances dating back to 1991. 

“It’s deeply disappointing. I feel deeply responsible,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “I can look on paper and realize we had 11 new players and try to rationalize, but that doesn’t feel deserving to the outcome.”

Maryland Field Hockey (10-8, 5-3 Big Ten) had a 2025 season filled with new faces, defensive dominance, and offensive struggles. 

“It’s almost like we had three seasons in three months, because that first month was just like glory, and you saw this talent, and then we just had results that didn’t match what we wanted,” head coach Missy Meharg said.

A common issue this season was a lack of capitalization on offensive opportunities – particularly corners. 

The Terps earned a total of 127 penalty corners and came away with 30 goals. To put Maryland’s issues converting into perspective, conference opponent Rutgers – who finished the season with a similar record to the Terps – had 75 penalty corners and scored 46 goals. 

“ [We] saw a ton of balls go right in front of the goal cage and we just missed it,” Meharg said.

Goalscoring was a problem for Maryland in general. The top ten goalscoring teams in the nation averaged 3.54 goals per game – the Terps averaged 1.67, a mark outside the top 50 at the Division One level. 

To remedy this issue, Meharg believes practice and experience will be key. 

“I think it’s repetition, more repetition, more repetition.”

Underclassmen led Maryland’s offense this season. Freshman Jordyn Hollamon was the Terps’ leading goalscorer, and five of Maryland’s top eight point scorers were either freshman or sophomores. Djuna Eikelboom and Maia Adamson – both freshman – along with sophomore Ella Gaitan were standouts who could drive offensive improvement in the coming years. 

There were a lot of younger Terps that impressed Meharg in their first season at Maryland. 

“I think [Ella] Fehr, you know, the transfer from VCU really, I just think she played in the belly of the field, they’re [Fehr and Adamson] playing in the most challenging kind of areas.” Missy said, “I thought Feliz Khune did a really nice job, Erin Callahan. I mean, just fantastic. So, yeah, I mean, the whole group is just, super exciting. And Brinkley Eyre, I thought she came on really, really strong at the end, super strong.”

Development from this group will be key for the Terps in order to have both a strong starting line and the depth necessary to succeed. 

Maryland has always been a defense-focused team, and the defense was dominant – especially the upperclassmen.

Juniors Josie Hollamon and Alyssa Klebasko held down the Terps’ back end, working in tandem. Klebasko had six shutouts throughout the season, and opponents were held to only 1.07 goals per game.

“I think Alyssa Klebasko and Josie, I think those two together, they definitely bring in intensity.” head coach Meharg said.

Not everyone from the defense will be returning. Ericka Morris-Adams and Fleur Knopert – both significant contributors – will be graduating and moving forward. Freshman Sarah Walker and Erin Callahan – Maryland’s two non-senior defenders outside of Hollamon on the roster – could play a role in replacing them. 

Klebasko and Hollamon are two of many Terps with active winters ahead. Both of them, along with Maci Bradford – Maryland’s leading point scorer and facilitator, with eight assists on the year –  were selected for the Junior World Cup in Chile

The rest of the team will have opportunities to play together indoors, working on individual skills and team chemistry. Stylistic adjustments will be made due to the nature of the indoor game, which requires more clean cut stick skills and teamwork. 

“I think indoor is a great game to be able to look at angles and look at shot selections.” Meharg said.

Despite the disappointment in the way the season ended, Meharg sees the end result as a learning opportunity – and a chance to rethink and reset for future years with this group. 

“Well, first you give it time, and then you listen to the players.” Meharg said. “So it’s a little bit different, but I look at it as an opportunity and I think hopefully the girls are feeling that contagious space that, you know, we’ve got a nice five weeks, [and] got a training program set up.”

“I’m super excited about next year.”