No. 8 Maryland field hockey falls on late-minute penalty corner in 2-1 loss vs. No. 3 Ohio State

Photo courtesy of Allison Mize/Maryland Terrapins

With under 30 seconds remaining in a tied game in the fourth quarter Maryland field hockey seemed destined for its second overtime game against Ohio State. But with 28.3 seconds remaining, Ohio State was granted its fifth penalty corner of the game.

The shot came from defender Katie Fichtner but was redirected by forward Cameryn Forgash. Goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko made the save, but the ball trickled behind her. Rayne Wright poked the ball away from the line, but forward Makenna Webster — the Buckeyes’ leading goal scorer — found the rebound and potted it into the empty net.

The goal went to video review and was eventually upheld, allowing Ohio State to run out the remaining time on the clock and send its bench storming onto the field after the final buzzer.

Backed by a last-chance penalty, corner No. 8 Maryland field hockey (9-4, 4-2 Big Ten) fell 2-1 against No. 3 Ohio State (12-1, 3-1 Big Ten) in College Park at the Lacrosse and Field Hockey Complex on Friday night.

The loss marks the fourth time Maryland has lost by one goal against a top-five-ranked opponent and is the first time Ohio State has beaten Maryland in program history.

“I thought when we tied it up, we were in control and very much comfortable in overtime,” head coach Missy Mehard said. “But again, they had a great quarter call there at the end.”

Webster had been the driving force behind Ohio State’s success all season as the graduate student entered Friday’s contest ranked third in the Big Ten in goals and points. While she didn’t factor into her team’s first goal, she found a way to score in her team’s biggest moment of the season.

“It looks like they had a great shot,” Meharg said on the final goal. “I think [Klijnhout] thought she couldn’t get to the ball to play it, so she called a referral, but it was not conclusive.”

Despite the loss, the Terps did meet Klebasko’s goal of a get fast start. The Buckeyes had failed to surrender a penalty corner in their prior game against Kent State. The Terps immediately ended that streak, producing five penalty corners in the opening quarter.

While Maryland was stifled by Ohio State’s defensive penalty corner unit, the Terps’ best chance came from Hope Rose around the midway mark of the opening quarter. Rose busted through the middle of the Buckeyes’ defending third, splitting two defenders and leaving her one-on-one with goalkeeper Abby Danson.

Rose appeared to have a clear shooting lane to her right, but Danson charged out of her net, drastically reducing Rose’s shooting angle and taking Rose’s shot in the chest. Rose gathered her rebound and flung a turn-around shot on net, but Danson stymied Rose again, kicking out the shot with her left leg.

Danson entered Friday’s contest ranking second in the Big Ten in goals-against-average and save percentage. The senior continued her impressive season, shutting down a Terps offense that produced 12 shots on goal throughout the game, with several coming on high-danger chances.

“We dominated on the attack for 60 minutes,” Meharg said about the team’s offensive performance. “There [were] just a couple of minutes in the third quarter we didn’t, and then we went back to the original press that we were in.”

While Ohio State produced just two first-half shots, both came on penalty corners, forcing Klebasko to make a pair of athletic saves. The first penalty corner came with 11.1 seconds left in the first corner. A redirection just feet in front of Klebasko popped the ball in the air, forcing the sophomore to leap and use just enough of her left hand to direct the ball on top of the net.

The second Ohio State penalty corner produced a significantly more difficult save for Klebasko. Olympian and leading Buckeyes’ scorer Webster centered the ball to start the penalty corner but quickly received a pass back, leaving her with a wide-open shot by the left post. But Klebasko was not fooled by Ohio State’s elaborate passing, making a sprawling save to keep the game scoreless early in the second quarter.

After a lackluster third quarter, with 9:32 remaining in the fourth, Ohio State was granted its fourth penalty corner of the game. Fichtner wasted no time after receiving the entry pass, ripping a shot through a hoard of bodies and into the bottom right corner of the net.

Unlike Maryland’s prior three games against top-five opponents, its offense responded. 

Nearly 90 seconds after the Buckeyes scored, the Terps produced their tenth penalty corner of the game. As she’s done all season, Emma DeBerdine started the penalty corner and delivered a pass to Rose. Instead of shooting, Rose stick-handled past into the center of the shooting circle before ripping a shot on net. Freshman Annemijn Klijnhout picked up the rebound and potted it for her second career goal.

But Webster’s goal with 28.3 seconds left in the final quarter proved too much for the Terps, leaving them with a tough loss heading into Sunday’s matchup in College Park against No.7 Michigan.