No. 2 Maryland field hockey takes early lead and doesn’t look back, dominating Indiana, 5-1

Maryland received two penalty corners within the first four minutes of the game, but neither corner put a goal on the board for the Terps. However, the third time was the charm for Maryland, as the Terps used their third corner of the contest to take an early lead, one they would not relinquish.

Shots from Riley Donnelly and Kylee Niswonger were unsuccessful but Emma DeBerdine found the rebound off Niswonger’s attempt. 

DeBerdine took the rebound and flicked it into the left side of the goal past goalkeeper Arabella Loveridge, scoring the first goal for the Terps in what would be a dominant showing over Indiana. 

No. 2 Maryland field hockey remained undefeated in conference play, defeating Indiana 5-1.

“There’s just a lot of fun,” coach Missy Meharg said. “It’s a lot of patience and I thought our backs were exceptional today, controlling the game and lighting it up.”

Maryland received its first penalty corner less than two minutes into the game. DeBerdine inserted the ball to Danielle van Rootselaar, whose shot was blocked by the Hoosiers defense. Maura Verleg received the rebound and attempted another shot for the Terps, but her shot was saved by Loveridge. 

With 7:10 left in the quarter, Maryland was awarded another penalty corner. Riley Donnelly received the insert but had her shot saved by Loveridge. Niswonger rebounded the saved shot but had her shot blocked by the Hoosiers defense. DeBerdine picked up that shot and found the cage herself, giving Maryland the first score of the game. 

The goal was DeBerdine’s fifth of the season. 

With 2:06 left in the first quarter, van Rootselaar flipped a pass to Leah Crouse to the right. Crouse found Bibi Donraadt open in the front of the goal, sending a pass to her as Donraadt tapped it in to increase Maryland’s lead to 2-0. 

“I think we did a good job with really just getting our balls into the circle into the forwards,” DeBerdine said. “There’s a lot of connection that we’ve been trying to build within the midfielders and forwards, obviously without Hope has really been a change for us, but we’ve had a lot of forwards really step up and they’ve been doing great.”

At the end of the first, Maryland attempted 13 shots and held Indiana to none. Loveridge had six saves in the first period. 

The Terps were awarded their next penalty corner with just over ten minutes left in the second quarter. Loveridge saved shots by van Rootselaar and Donraadt, picking up her seventh and eighth saves of the contest. 

With under five minutes left in the quarter, Maryland received its eighth penalty corner of the game. Donnelly rocketed a shot past Loveridge into the backboard, increasing Maryland’s lead to three. The goal was Donnelly’s third of the season. 

Belle Bressler drove the ball down the field for the Terps just moments later and found Margot Lawn in front of the right side of the goal. Lawn received the pass and shot it around Loveridge, sneaking the ball in as Maryland doubled its lead in less than a minute to 4-0.

The Hoosiers received their first penalty corner with 55 seconds left in the quarter, but their first attempt was stalled by the Maryland defense. 

On their next attempt, Sofia Arrebola Garcia had her shot blocked by Maryland’s defense. However, the shot went airborne over goalkeeper Paige Kieft and into the goal for the Hoosiers, their first of the half.

At the half, Maryland led 21:1 in shots taken, with 14 shots on goal. The Terps also led 8:2 in penalty corner attempts. 

The first penalty corner attempt of the third came four minutes in. DeBerdine sent it into midfielder Nathalie Fiechter, who fired the shot high past Loveridge into the goal, giving Maryland a 5-1 lead. 

The Terps attempted a string of three penalty corner attempts with 2:23 left in the quarter. Donnelly attempted shots on every attempt for the Terps, but none increased Maryland’s lead.

At the end of the third, the Hoosiers still only attempted one shot attempt. The Terps had attempted 31. 

At the start of the fourth, goalkeeper Christina Calandra was inserted in relief for Kieft. Kieft ended the game allowing only one goal in 45 minutes of play. 

With 1:31 left in the game, Indiana coach Kayla Bashore complained to referees about player safety on the field. She was warned multiple times to stop talking but continued, receiving a red card, ejecting her from the game. Bashore will also have to miss the next game for the Hoosiers due to the red card. 

“Coaching sometimes you can get fired up right and there were a couple things that the coach felt that was going on the whole game, she was chirping at her a lot,” Meharg said.

Bashore’s ejection was the only action in the fourth, as Maryland cruised in the quarter en route to the win. 

Maryland’s focus now pivots to a matchup against Georgetown on Tuesday.