No. 10 Maryland field hockey powers past No. 9 Ohio State, 2-1, for fifth straight win

When it desperately needed a score to break a fourth-quarter tie, No. 10 Maryland field hockey’s offense was stagnant. 

Hannah Boss and Margot Lawn provided a burst. The former thread a beautiful pass from outside the shooting circle to Lawn, who put a point blank shot in the back of the net to give the Terps (12-3, 4-1 Big Ten) a 2-1 lead. 

Maryland ultimately held on to the one-score advantage, defeating No. 9 Ohio State (12-4, 4-3 Big Ten) for its fifth straight victory.

The Terps’ offense awakened early on after only managing one score against Michigan in its last game. They scored less than five minutes into the contest as graduate forward Sammy Popper placed a point blank shot past senior goalkeeper Abby Danson to make it 1-0.

The goal was Popper’s third in three games and her sixth of the season.

Less than a minute later, Maryland had another chance to score on a penalty corner attempt, but Boss’s shot was saved by a diving Danson.

Maryland’s next penalty corner came just over three minutes into the second quarter, but freshman defender Josie Hollamon’s shot was saved by Danson.

Hollamon was a big reason why Ohio State senior forward Makenna Webster, third in the Big Ten in goals and points, was unable to even get a shot off in the first half, thanks to the relentless hounding by Hollamon and other Maryland defenders.

The Buckeyes’ best scoring opportunity of the half came when freshman midfielder Anne Marie Krebs had a one-on-one opportunity against freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko. Krebs put a nice shot towards the right side of the goal point blank, but Klebasko made the splitting save. 

Maryland’s defense stifled the Buckeyes throughout the first quarter. Ohio State had a penalty corner attempt with under a minute to go in the first quarter, but the attempt was blocked straight on by sophomore midfielder Ericka Morris-Adams.

Morris-Adams was crucial to the Terps’ penalty corner defense, blocking four of the Buckeyes’ seven first-half penalty corner attempts.

Despite the Buckeyes’ offense showing some teeth in the second quarter with the teams tied at eight in shot attempts, they remained unable to put points on the board.

But Ohio State refused to be held off the board. On an intercepted pass, Webster assisted junior forward Hallie Brost, who put the shot past Klebasko from inside the shooting circle, making it a 1-1 game.

The Buckeyes continued to pile up the penalty corners in the second half. Their eighth attempt by Webster was saved by Boss.

Ohio State had a penalty corner attempt with just under four minutes to go, but it failed to even register a shot. It got two shots on goal off in the final three minutes, but both were saved by Klebasko.

The game marked another strong effort from Klebasko, who registered seven saves on the day while only allowing one goal.

Maryland’s offense was nearly non-existent for much of the second half until Lawn’s timely goal, only managing to put up one shot to Ohio State’s four in the third quarter and getting outshot 16-to-10 overall.

Lawn’s goal was her seventh on the year as she took sole possession of second place on the team in goals.

After going 2-0 on its Big Ten road trip, Maryland travels back to College Park to take on Iowa this Friday at 5 p.m.