No. 10 Maryland field hockey overwhelmed by No. 8 Princeton’s offense in 2-1 loss

Earlier this weekend, Maryland eked out a win against No.12 Michigan and was looking to take that second-half momentum into this game against Princeton. Despite a goal early in the fourth quarter, the Terps were overwhelmed by the Tigers’ key player Beth Yeager and held off by goalkeeper Olivia Caponiti.

No.10 Maryland (6-4, 2-0 Big Ten) lost to No. 8 Princeton (5-3, 1-1 Ivy League) 2-1 at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park.

Maryland faced its second 2024 Olympian of the weekend in Yeager. The senior midfielder is an All-American, three-time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year and the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year. She scored both goals in the last matchup between these two teams. 

Yeager looked primed to be the main scorer again when a pass was fired into the scoring area, throwing off the defense and allowing Yeager to quickly slide a shot in the empty area next to junior goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko. The score was Yeager’s 50th career goal.

The Tigers continued to break away with 34 seconds left in the third quarter, when Ella Hampson fired a strong shot on goal and gave Princeton a 2-0 lead.

Maryland finally got its second-half momentum with 8:24 left in the game. After a missed penalty corner, junior forward Maci Bradford kept the ball on the Terps’ side and scored, cutting into the Tigers’ lead.

Both teams started with breakaway drives to the goal. Sophomore forward Ella Gaitan began by intercepting the ball near the Tigers’ goal and heading in for a shot, but Caponiti dove for it and stopped the momentum. 

Soon after, Princeton swept the ball down the field and set up Saylor Milone for an open look in the scoring circle with a Terp defender rushing behind. Milone’s shot went wide, however.

Despite Princeton’s efforts to get the ball back, Maryland was relentless with their interceptions on the Tigers’ defensive end. They kept offensive possession for much of the first quarter and were constantly looking for opportunities to score.

After the first quarter, Princeton largely held offensive possession and limited the Terps to nine shots. Princeton generated 17 shots, which resulted in a two-point lead and ultimately the win for the Tigers.

The defensive strategy from Princeton appeared to largely involve triple-teaming. The Tigers placed three players around the player with the ball, essentially closing her off from all options and presenting easy chances for the defense to steal the ball and prevent shots. 

Two members of Princeton’s coaching staff came from Maryland. Head coach Carla Tagliente – in her ninth year coaching Princeton and 14th year coaching field hockey – was a member of Maryland’s 1999 NCAA Championship-winning team. Assistant coach Dino Rizzo also played for Maryland, playing alongside Tagliente from 1998 to 2001.

“I’m so proud of all of them for loving the game as much as I do,” Maryland coach Missy Meharg said. “And that their experience here at Maryland was one that, with them in position to want to make a living out of doing it, you know, after what I was able to do with them here.”

Princeton decided to change things up in the second quarter and not only got the ball into their offensive area more, but earned themselves a penalty corner.  Fortunately for the Terps,  the shot narrowly missed.

While Maryland has earned corners many times in the past. This game was starkly different. Despite one corner opportunity, Caponiti remained stalwart in the goal and prevented a score. 

Princeton, however, had five corners throughout the game, though none of them yielded points for the Tigers.

After a 1-1 weekend, the Terps will prepare for a six-game stretch of conference play, starting with their matchups next weekend against Ohio State and Michigan State.  

“Go[ing] back at what really matters, and that’s the facts and get better at the things that we weren’t able to do in the third quarter in this game,” Meharg said. “And even in the first quarter, when we had opportunities and we’ll go from there.”