No. 10 Maryland field hockey falls to No. 1 Northwestern after Wildcats’ dominant third quarter

No. 10 Maryland field hockey struck early once again, sparking hope for an upset. For the rest of the match, No. 1 Northwestern’s press defense stifled the Terps.

After a strong first-quarter performance, Maryland (8-6, 4-3 Big Ten) fell to Northwestern (13-1, 5-0 Big Ten) 2-1 at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park.

“We have got to find a way to take advantage of the opportunities when you get them, with the best team in the nation and the best players in the nation on the field,”  Maryland coach Missy Meharg said.

Playing against the No. 1 team in the country, Maryland needed to shore up its season-long offensive struggles. The Terps’ defense has been reliably sturdy, but their offense hasn’t complemented it.

An early score for Maryland off a penalty corner broke the Terps’ long-standing pattern of first-half lulls and a lack of capitalizing on corners. 

After freshman Maia Adamson inserted the ball, it bounced around between multiple players before reaching freshman Djuna Eikelboom and hitting the wood in the back of the goal for her first goal of the season and her career.

Northwestern’s goalie, redshirt freshman Juliana Boon, boasts the highest save percentage in the nation and has recorded eight shutouts this season.

Facing a strong press from Northwestern in the second half, the Terps struggled to move the ball up the field. 

The Wildcats needed to control the ball if they wanted a chance at winning this game, and they finally got that with graduate Maddie Zimmer earning a lone penalty shot against Alyssa Klebasko. The midfielder converted the penalty to knot the game at 1-1.

“They really pressed up their press and just got tighter, I think, at that juncture you’ve got to reshape around a little bit deeper,” Meharg said about what the Terps could have done against the Wildcats’ press.

The momentum continued with four more penalty corners for the Wildcats. Maryland stopped the first three, but the fourth resulted in a goal scored by backline senior Maja Zivojnovic. Northwestern took a 2-1 lead with the score.

With just over five minutes left in the game, Meharg decided to pull Klebasko and gain another field player to strengthen the Terps’ scoring opportunities.

With 11:37 left in the game, Northwestern earned a penalty corner, though the Terps stopped the Wildcats once again.

The Terps matched the Wildcats in several facets today. Maryland and Northwestern both recorded 10 shots and five shots on goal. Maryland dominated the first quarter with six shots compared to zero from Northwestern.

Maryland’s defense held strong in the first two quarters, holding the Wildcats to zero shots on goal.

The Terps faltered in an eight-shot, two-goal quarter for Northwestern, however, which proved to be the deciding factor in the game.

“Totally proud of our team and totally excited about the nature of the content,” Meharg said. “I said, ‘Do not measure this game by the outcome, measure it by the content and level of competition.’”

After a 0-2 weekend, the Terps are now fourth in the Big Ten standings after ranking second. Maryland plays its final conference game against No. 15 Rutgers on Friday, before it heads to Charlottesville for a matchup against No. 3 Virginia on Oct. 28.