No. 8 Maryland field hockey downs No. 5 Rutgers, 2-1, to advance to Big Ten championship

No. 8 Maryland field hockey’s prospects of advancing to the Big Ten championship looked bleak as it remained scoreless and down by one goal with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter.

But Margot Lawn changed that on a beautiful pass from Hannah Boss, as the diving forward put the ball in the back of the net to tie the game.

Then, four minutes later, the Terps looked to capitalize off a penalty corner. Josie Hollamon’s initial shot from the top of the shooting circle was saved, but Maci Bradford’s point blank rebound look found the back of the cage as the dagger score Maryland needed.

“We’ve always worked on getting in the right position for corner rebounding,” Bradford said. “I knew it was tied 1-1 and that we had to finish so we could get to the championship game and I just put it in.”

The Terps’ offense awoke late when it mattered. They defeated No. 5 Rutgers, 2-1, to secure a date with No. 1 Northwestern at noon on Sunday.

The defenses dominated the first half. Neither offense found much action, with a combined total of just four shots — three from the Terps and one from the Scarlet Knights — at the conclusion of the opening quarter. The second frame was much of the same, as neither of the combined three shots in the period found the back of the cage.

Hope Rose was the lone Terp to record a shot in the first quarter as Maryland’s offense struggled. Her look with just under three minutes left in the frame was saved by the Scarlet Knights goalkeeper Sophia Howard.

The Terps’ next shot on goal also came from Rose just over five minutes into the second quarter, but another Howard save kept Maryland from striking first. As was the theme on Friday, Rose took the shot on the Terps’ first penalty corner early in the third quarter. Once more Rutgers’ defense stalled Maryland’s scoring chance, this time with a blocked shot.

The Terps’ offense finally awoke with just under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter as Lawn sent a shot too high for Howard to stop. Then came Bradford’s go-ahead goal as the dagger.

Maryland’s defense was especially stifling, as the unit limited Rutgers’ offensive attack to just two shots throughout the entire first half. The Scarlet Knights failed to put any of those shots on goal.

Rutgers had the first penalty corner of the game, which didn’t come until five minutes before the end of the first half. Paulina Niklaus had her shot blocked by Logan Anderson, keeping the Scarlet Knights’ offense off the scoreboard in a quiet opening half.

The Terps’ defensive unit finally broke down with six-and-a-half minutes left in the third frame. Lucy Bannatyne drove a shot from the center of the shooting circle past a defender and Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko to give the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead on her first goal of the season.

Rutgers had an amazing opportunity to make it a two-goal lead shortly into the fourth quarter as Marique Dieudonne put a shot past Klebasko, but not past Ericka Morris-Adams, who made a huge defensive save for the Terps to keep their deficit at one.

“It’s exciting for right now,” coach Missy Meharg said of her younger players. “It’s exciting because they’re gonna take the opportunity to play for a championship and they’re going to be here for a long time.”

The Scarlet Knights had a chance for one more goal to tie the game with less than five minutes left. But a pair of Klebasko saves off a penalty corner kept Maryland ahead 2-1 in what resulted as the final score.

“We knew we could come back,” Bradford said. “We were playing good field hockey and we finished it in the end.”