No. 2-seed Maryland field hockey falls to No. 3-seed Northwestern in the Big Ten Semifinals, 2-1

Leading 1-0 in the second quarter, Northwestern midfielder Peyton Halsey set up for a penalty stroke.

Just the day earlier, Halsey connected on a stroke in overtime to lift the Wildcats over Rutgers, sending them to the semifinals against Maryland.

Halsey snuck the stroke shot into the left corner of the post past goalkeeper Paige Kieft, extending the lead to two with the eventual game winning goal as No. 3-seed Northwestern defeated No. 2-seed Maryland field hockey 2-1.

“We’ve been a great field hockey team,” coach Missy Meharg said. “For some reason, we’ve for whatever reason, we decided that we weren’t going to follow up pressure on the ball and we were going to dribble a lot.”

Northwestern received the first penalty corner of the game four minutes in. Midfielder Maddie Zimmer inserted the ball to midfielder Alia Marshall, who took a few steps forward towards the goal before firing a shot into the left corner past Maryland goalkeeper Christina Calandra. Marshall’s goal gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead. 

The Wildcats received multiple corner attempts minutes later, but both were blocked by the Maryland defense. 

Maryland’s first corner attempt came with under two minutes left in the first quarter.

Midfielder Emma DeBerdine inserted the ball for a Riley Donnelly shot, but Northwestern goalkeeper Annabel Skubicz dove to her right to save the shot. Donnelly registered two goals in Maryland’s prior game against Ohio State, both when the game was tied. 

Leading 1-0 at the end of the first, Northwestern outshot Maryland 7:2. The Wildcats attempted five penalty corners compared to the Terps’ one. 

Maryland’s slow start on offense continued into the second quarter, while Northwestern continued to get the ball into open space. 

The Terps’ first shot on goal occurred six minutes into the quarter, but midfielder Bibi Donraadt’s shot was blocked by Skubicz.

Northwestern’s first corner attempt of the second occurred with 5:16 left. Forward Bente Baekers’ shot was bounced away from the goal, but the Wildcats received a penalty stroke after the attempt. 

Halsey fired the shot past Kieft, putting them ahead 2-0. Kieft was subbed in for Calandra specifically for the stroke shot before being subbed out afterwards.

The goal was Halsey’s 11th of the season. 

Maryland could not put a goal on the board in the first half, entering halftime down 2-0. 

Northwestern dictated the game in the first, shutting down the high scoring Maryland offense. Despite Maryland averaging 3.95 goals per game — the most in the Big Ten — the Wildcats shut down its high scoring offense. 

Northwestern outshot the Terps 12:4 in the first half and attempted seven penalty corners compared to Maryland’s one.

“We didn’t have any rhythm,” Meharg said. “When you play hockey and you play with rhythm and you connect in the way that we can do then you’re gonna be able to jump on them early and we just didn’t do it in the first two quarters.”

Minutes into the third, Maryland seemed to gain an offense spark, firing a flurry of shots towards the goal. However, the Northwestern defense stepped up when needed as Skubicz recorded three saves in the stretch. 

Northwestern had an opportunity to extend its lead to three with a penalty corner, but Calandra came up with a diving save for the stop. 

Wildcats midfielder Lauren Wadas received a green card with just over five minutes remaining in the quarter.

Maryland’s first penalty corner attempt came with just under three minutes remaining. Forward Hope Rose’s shot was unsuccessful but the Terps received another attempt. 

Defender Rayne Wright inserted the ball into Rose, and the forward wound up her shot. Rose fired it into the left corner over Skubicz’s stick to get the Terps on the board late in the third, now trailing 2-1.

The Terps outshot Northwestern 7:6 in the third, the first quarter of the game they did so.

The fourth started slow for the Terps, as Northwestern attempted three shots before the Terps attempted their first with just under six minutes remaining in regulation. 

With 3:02 remaining in the fourth, the Terps pulled Calandra out of the goal in hopes of scoring a late goal to push the game to overtime. 

The Terps were unable to generate any offense even with the extra fielder, falling to the Wildcats 2-1. 

“I think we could have tied that game up or at least put shots on goal,” Meharg said. “I think we were a little hesitant to pass the ball in the midfield which hurt us.”

Maryland now will wait and find out its spot in the NCAA Tournament Sunday night.