No. 4 Maryland field hockey gears up for a matchup against No. 18 Duke

No. 4 Maryland field hockey (3-0) gets set for its second game in the B1G/ACC Cup, as the Terps face No. 18 Duke (2-1) on Sunday, their second consecutive ranked opponent.

Maryland enters following a tight win against No. 14 Boston College. The Terps defeated the Eagles 3-1, their first game against a ranked opponent.

“It’s not who you play,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “It’s how you play… It’s certainly nice to [play] an ACC team that is ranked, especially at their house.”

The Terps got off to a quick start against the Eagles, scoring less than three minutes into the game. Senior forward Margot Lawn found sophomore forward Hope Rose, and Rose netted the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal to give the Terps the lead, 1-0.

The goal was Rose’s third, the team lead.

Boston College answered back quickly with a goal to tie the game at one apiece. Junior midfielder Peyton Hale beat goalkeeper Christina Calandra with a shot off a penalty corner. 

After the goal, Meharg’s message to her team was clear: stay present.

“Just stay present and keep getting better at what you’re doing,” Meharg said. “It’s when the chaos gets kind of contagious that you can fall off that and I was very impressed. I thought we were able to control chaos very quickly.”

That was the last time the Eagles scored. 

Maryland took the lead back in the second quarter thanks to graduate student forward Leah Crouse. Crouse tapped in the ball into the back of the net off a Lawn assist, her second of the day. 

Later in the fourth, the Terps secured their victory later when Bibi Donraadt found the bottom left corner to extend the Terps’ lead to 3-0. The goal was Donraadt’s first of the season.

Maryland’s defense this season has been stifling, allowing only two goals and 5.7 shots per game through three games.

“Playing with my defense is such an amazing experience,” Calandra said. “We all work hard for each other and with each other. So really, the energy has always stayed high for us.” 

The two other wins for the Terps this season were a 7-1 victory against Drexel in the opener and a narrow 1-0 victory over Stanford.

No. 18 Duke enters the game 2-1 after opening its season with wins over Rutgers and Saint Joseph’s before falling to No. 1 Northwestern. 

Duke won in a shootout in its season opener against Rutgers. 

After exchanging goals in the second period, the game remained tied through two overtimes. Sophomore defender Shelby Bumgarner notched the game winning goal in the shootout. 

The Blue Devils’ next game against Saint Josephs also found its way into double overtime after both teams were held scoreless following the first overtime. Sophomore midfielder Joesphine Palde scored the game’s lone goal in double overtime, giving Duke the 1-0 victory.

Duke was held scoreless against Northwestern in a 2-0 loss. Duke only notched four shots on goal the whole game, compared to Northwestern’s 11. 

Senior Ana Medina Garcia put Northwestern on the board in the first quarter with a tip in goal. Northwestern built its lead to two in the third quarter when forward Bente Baekers scored on a breakaway goal. 

Maryland leads the all-time series against Duke, 14-7, and enters Sunday on a four-game win streak against Duke.