No. 11 Maryland field hockey falls to Ohio State 2-1 in first round of Big Ten Tournament

Photo courtesy of Kevin Snyder/Maryland Terrapins

Both Maryland and Ohio State had strong offensive quarters and key moments of possession, but only one was able to parlay them into a lead and a victory.

The Buckeyes had four corners and earned goals off two of them. Maryland, meanwhile, earned a whopping eight corners and didn’t score a goal off any of them.

No. 11 Maryland (10-8) lost 2-1 to Ohio State (8-9) at Deborah Tobias Field stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. The Terps were the second seed, while the Buckeyes were the seventh seed.

The second quarter began with Ohio State earning its first pair of offensive opportunities. Graduate forward Makenna Webster found herself alone in front of the goal, but her shot attempt was deflected.

About 3 minutes into the quarter, the Buckeyes earned consecutive penalty corners and converted the second one. Ohio State sent an insert directly to junior midfielder Anne Marie Krebs, who moved deftly to find an open lane and rocketed a shot past junior goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko for the game’s first goal.

Four minutes into the second half of the game, the Terps set up a settled offense, passed around and eventually Maddie Vasilios snuck the ball down near the goal line. The junior forward found freshman midfielder Maia Adamson positioned in front of the goal, who put a shot past sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Stevens to tie the game.

With less than three minutes left in the third quarter, Ohio State earned the team’s fourth penalty corner and once again was able to capitalize on a key scoring opportunity. 

On a rebound from a save by Klebasko, senior defender Katie Fichtner got a shot off at just the right angle as the ball slipped past Klebasko’s right foot and into the goal, securing a lead for the Buckeyes.

Maryland started this game with the offensive aggression it has been searching for all year, maintaining possession for about 13 minutes of the first quarter and not allowing Ohio State to advance to its scoring area for the entirety of the quarter.

The Terps used this pressure to earn the first penalty corner of the game with just over six minutes left in the first quarter. Maryland failed to convert, but with around five and a half minutes to go in the first quarter, the Terps had another chance. 

Freshman forward Jordyn Hollamon and junior defender Josie Hollamon passed the ball between themselves, then fired a shot into the goal, but the score was waved off due to an offensive violation.

With Maryland’s stable defense backing this newly aggressive offense, the Terps were able to dominate the first quarter. They didn’t allow a shot from the Buckeyes and earned two corners and three shots, including a pair on goal.

A third penalty corner came for the Terps with around 6:02 left in the second quarter. The Terps attempted to fire a shot off, but Stevens was able to deflect it with the tip of her stick.
Late in the third quarter, the Terps got another penalty corner opportunity and a chance to break the tie and create a lead against the Buckeyes. With some hesitation at the top of the arch, Maryland didn’t attempt a shot.

Maddie Stevens was a key factor in the lack of corner success from the Terps in the first three quarters; she had three saves to Maryland’s four shots on goal, which all came from penalty opportunities.

The loss to sub-.500 Ohio State is a blow to the Terps’ NCAA Tournament hopes. Maryland will find out its fate during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday.