No. 6 Maryland Field Hockey cruised past Richmond 3-0

Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins

With roughly three minutes left in the final quarter, Josie Hollamon ripped a shot on net. The rebound was picked up by Hope Rose, who potted her team team-leading ninth goal of the season on senior day.

Backed by efficient penalty corner scoring, No. 6 Maryland field hockey (11-5, 5-2 Big Ten) cruised past Richmond (10-7, 4-2 A-10) 3-0 at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park on Sunday on senior day.

“I think on Friday, we didn’t play Maryland field hockey, and so today, it was just going to be a reset, and we were going to play our hearts out for our seniors,” Hollamon said on the team’s mindset heading into Sunday. “We were able to come out here … and honestly forget about Friday and move on because we have a big postseason.”

Entering Sunday’s contest, Richmond heavily struggled against ranked opponents, getting outshot 65-14 and outscored 15-0 in four combined contests. Those struggles continued against Maryland, allowing an offense that had struggled to produce in the opening quarter to dominate.

Maryland’s midfield speed had been its best asset all season, and it continued to produce against Richmond. With roughly nine minutes left in the first quarter, Hope Rose collected the balm in her defensive third before exploding through the center third and feathering a pass behind Richmond’s defense, connecting with a streaking Fleuer Knopert. 

The pass left Knopert on a partial breakaway, but could not capitalize on the chance as goalkeeper Kristen Rake poked the ball off her stick while diving to her right. The goal was just Maryland’s sixth goal in the opening quarter.

But on Maryland’s second penalty corner of the quarter, Knopert had another opportunity to convert. Unlike Maryland’s prior penalty corner, Ella Gaitan took the shot from the top of the penalty corner. Knopert sprinted from spot on at the top of the shooting circle before slowing down in the middle of the shooting circle and finding a soft spot in Richmond’s defense. Gaitan’s shot came straight at Knopert, who redirected the ball over Rake to give Maryland a 1-0 lead.

Maryland’s offense continued to produce on penalty corners in the following quarter. With 3:24 left in the second quarter, Emma DeBerdine inserted the ball to Hollamon. The sophomore took two steps into the shooting circle before dishing a pass to her left to Gaitan. The freshman ripped a shot past a diving Rake, doubling Maryland’s lead.

“She’s very effective,” head coach Missy Meharg said on Gaitan’s penalty corner goal. “She’s a drag-flicker, and she got the hands for it … She can be deceptive with it. You can think she’s throwing there [and] it’ll go here.”

Despite allowing two goals, Rake played phenomenally in the first half. The red-shirt junior was bombarded by ten shots on goal — a majority coming from point-blank range. Rake recorded eight saves in the first half and continued her stellar play in the second half, making two more saves.

The Spiders’ offense had struggled all season against ranked opponents and continued against Maryland. Richmond recorded the game’s first shot on goal, but it was all Maryland from there as the Spiders failed to record a shot on goal for the rest of the game. 

“I think we’re a pretty solid backline, and we were very connected today,” Hollamon said about the team’s defense. “We all played really good, one-to-one defense in the backfield, and we didn’t let them get any opportunities.”

Paige Kieft made the start for the Terps for the first time all season. The senior had appeared just once this season — against Lock Haven — but head coach Missy Meharg elected to give regular starter Alyssa Klebasko the day off. Not much was asked from Kieft as she needed to make just one save, allowing her to secure her first shutout in a game since Aug. 28, 2023, against U.C. Davis. 

The Terps will get set for their final game of the regular season when they travel to Penn State on Friday.