No. 7 Maryland field hockey endures dreadful performance in 5-1 loss to No. 1 Northwestern

Maryland could have been shocked when Lindsey Frank scored her first goal of the season to put Northwestern up in the first quarter. The Terps never recovered from the shock as the Wildcats dominated the rest of the way. 

No. 7 Maryland field hockey (14-4, 6-2 Big Ten) was dominated by No. 1 Northwestern (16-1, 8-0 Big Ten) on Thursday, 5-1. The Terps entered the day with a chance to secure a share of the Big Ten regular season title. The Wildcats instead became the sole Big Ten regular season champion.

“They’re a very dominant team,” coach Missy Meharg said. “They’re definitely the best team in the league right now and we’ll just [have to] do the best we can in the Big Ten tournament.”

Maryland not only was held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time in eight games, but it failed to even get a shot off. The Terps’ defensive front was also noticeably weaker than it had been in past outings, allowing five shots in what proved to be a disastrous first quarter in their biggest game of the season.

The nightmare started with six-and-a-half minutes left to go in the opening frame when Frank fired a shot from the middle of the shooting circle past a splitting Alyssa Klebasko to put Northwestern up 1-0. 

The Wildcats weren’t done in the quarter, as with under four minutes left, Alia Marshall charged straight into the shooting circle and fired a point blank shot by Klebasko to double Northwestern’s lead heading into the second quarter.

Maryland looked to build momentum with the beginning of a new period. That didn’t happen as the Wildcats put those thoughts to bed just over a minute into the frame. Their offensive star Peyton Halsey made it a 3-0 game on a left corner point blank score on a beautiful corner pass from Marshall.

Maci Bradford’s goal off a penalty corner just over a minute later only momentarily stopped the bleeding, as the Terps failed to score the rest of the way.

Both sides had many opportunities when it came to penalty corners — Maryland registered one more corner than Northwestern — but Bradford’s score was the only conversion of any of their seven corners. 

The Wildcats didn’t face the same issue. Ilse Tromp scored on a penalty corner shot from the top of the shooting circle early in the third quarter to extend their lead to 4-1.

Klebasko suffered a breakdown in the regular season finale. The freshman was able to make six saves on the day, yet she also allowed four goals before getting replaced by Paige Kieft halfway through the third frame. It was just the second game of Klebasko’s career where she had allowed multiple goals.

“I don’t think that our defense was playing to the level that [Alyssa] was used to,” Meharg said. “I wanted to give her a break to step out and give Paige an opportunity to compete.”

Kieft couldn’t stop the carnage as Northwestern kept its foot on the gas. Regan Cornelius put any thoughts of a Terps comeback to bed with a shot from just inside the top of the shooting circle that flew past Kieft to give the Wildcats their final tally of five goals.

Maryland’s issues on the day was not a lack of opportunities — it registered only one fewer shot than Northwestern and three fewer shots on goal. It was the Terps’ inability to convert those opportunities that sank their hopes of a share of the Big Ten regular season title for the second straight season.

Maryland will now go on a break, with its next time out on the field not occurring until the Big Ten tournament, which kicks off Thursday in Ann Arbor.

“The reality is that Northwestern was a wonderful teacher,” Meharg said. “We’re going to [hopefully] look at this as an opportunity and get better from it.”