No. 12 Maryland field hockey claims first top 10 win this season; beats No. 10 Iowa 2-1

Photo by Rose Fernandes/ Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

With 4:25 remaining in the third quarter, Maryland field hockey found itself in a dangerous situation.

The Terps trailed the Hawkeyes 1-0 and entered Friday winless against top-10 ranked opponents, and when the opposing team scored first.

But No. 12 Maryland scored twice in the final 17 minutes of the game, downing No. 10 Iowa 2-1 at Grant Field in Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa (7-3, 1-2 Big Ten) started the game strong, maintaining possession for much of the first quarter, while Maryland (8-4, 4-1 Big Ten) struggled to make any movement down the field and gain a scoring opportunity. The Hawkeyes dominated the first-quarter offense, registering all five shots and both corners in the opening quarter.

Iowa’s best chance of the first quarter came with just over a minute remaining. But Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko denied a shot from graduate student forward Frederique van Cleef by knocking the ball away with her left hand.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Terps found new energy, securing a penalty corner within the first 40 seconds. No score came out of it as redshirt senior goalkeeper Mia Magnotta dove to stop the ball as it went just left of the net. The energy shift caused Maryland’s shot count to go from zero to eight and its corners to go from zero to three within the quarter. 

“I think they took control of us in the first quarter,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “I think [in] the second quarter we worked out some shapes and got ourselves into the circle nicely.”

The last time these two teams faced off, Magnotta held Maryland to one score while making 18 saves. Magnotta was just as good in Friday’s contest, limiting Maryland’s offense while tying a season-high 11 saves.

For Maryland, its goalkeeping was equally solid. Klebasko consistently thwarted the Hawkeyes’ attack, tying a season-best nine saves with five coming on Iowa penalty corners.

The defensive unit of Klebasko, senior defender Ericka-Morris Adams, junior defender Josie Hollamon, and senior defender Fleur Knopert was extremely cohesive when protecting the net during penalty corners. The defensive unit tallied four blocked shots and prevented the Hawkeyes from scoring on 11 of their 12 opportunities.

The game continued to be zero to zero until roughly the four-minute mark of the third quarter as Iowa’s junior midfielder Lieve van Kessel scored on a penalty corner for the Hawkeyes.

This goal sparked the Terps to drive down the field and attempt to tie it up. They ended up doing just that on a redirected shot from freshman midfielder Jordyn Hollamon after a look from junior forward Maci Bradford. A common theme throughout Maryland’s winning play has been the strong offensive movement of these two players, as Bradford and Jordyn Hollamon are the top two point scorers for the Terps.

With 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Maryland gained a penalty corner, allowing Josie Hollamon to rip a shot that redirected off the boot of Magnotta and into the upper-half of the net, giving Maryland a 2-1 lead.

“This win means a lot to us,” Josie Hollamon said. “We talked about rewriting our season right now, and we were able to do that and get a top 10 win. So, hopefully this will keep us going high for the rest of the Big Ten season and the rest of our season in general.”