No. 4 Maryland field hockey outclasses Stanford in 3-1 season-opening win

Maryland field hockey entered its season opener against Stanford with history on its side – the Terps are 10-0 against the Cardinal in the two schools’ history. With a dominant showing on both ends of the field, No. 4 Maryland extended that streak to 11 consecutive wins. 

The Terps (1-0) handily defeated Stanford 3-1 in College Park on Friday, outshooting the Cardinal 24-7 and taking a 15-5 advantage in shots on goal. Ella Gaitan, Jordyn Hollamon and Ella Fehr led the attack with 14 shots combined and three shots on goal each.

Stanford fifth-year senior Maroussia Walckiers led the team with two shots on goal, but was unable to convert either.

In the first quarter, goalie Alyssa Klebasko blocked shots on goal four times. The first frame was largely a stalemate until the Terps got their first corner call. Freshman Brinkley Eyre initiated the play, passing it off to senior forward Fleur Knopert, but it got turned over in a cluster of Stanford defense. 

 The Cardinal (0-1) drove down the field, getting their first corner call, but the Terps didn’t let them past and denied them from netting their first goal of the game.

A close call occurred when Stanford’s Claire Nockolds fired a shot on goal, but it was quickly blocked by Klebasko as she got a stick on it. 

This sparked a chance for Annemijn Klijnhout to flash her transition skills. The All-Big Ten Second Team honoree impressed with her ability to move the ball down the field throughout the game.

Maryland got a great look less than two minutes into the game and capitalized. 

Great ball movement down the field from Josie Hollamon to Klijnhout led to Jordyn Hollamon assisting Gaitan for the game’s first score.

In the second quarter, Stanford flipped a Terps corner into a chance of its own. Freshman forward Summer Knight-Thompson knotted the game on an unassisted goal. 

The final play of the second quarter was intense with three consecutive corners for the Terps, each time starting with Maci Bradford passing to Jordyn Hollamon. Bradford was able to position herself near the goal on the third corner, allowing Jordyn Hollamon to set Bradford up to secure Maryland’s second goal of the game. 

On another corner for Bradford in the third period, Maryland maneuvered well within the scoring area, though it yielded no goal. 

Junior defender Josie Hollamon was awarded a penalty stroke and converted to put the Terps up by two and move the game out of reach for Stanford.

Although Maryland had comfortably controlled the match through three quarters, it remained aggressive on both sides of the ball in the fourth.

The Terps consistently forced turnovers and kept pressure on the goal. They walled Stanford off from Klebasko and kept the Cardinal scoreless down the stretch, holding onto their 3-1 lead.

After a decisive season-opening victory, Maryland now looks to extend another unbeaten streak. The Terps play Villanova, whom they are 3-0 against all-time, at 2 p.m. on Sunday.