No. 8 Maryland field hockey prepares for what may be its most important weekend

Photo courtesy of Allison Mize/Maryland Terrapins

No. 8 Maryland field hockey resumes conference play on Friday as the Terps stay in College Park for a two-game weekend against No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan.

Maryland (9-3, 4-1 Big Ten) is coming off a resounding 4-1 win against American. The Terps mounted another strong second-half performance, scoring three times en route to their fourth consecutive win.

“What I love about these guys is at halftime, when the coaching staff asks for a change, they do it,” head coach Missy Meharg said Monday after the Terps’ win against American. “I think what you’re seeing is just simple responses, and they’re very good at doing that.”

The Terps will now prepare for Friday’s game against Ohio State (11-1, 2-1 Big Ten) in what could end up being the most important weekend of Maryland’s season until the Big Ten playoffs.

“Ideally, winning these two games would put us in a really, really comfortable position, one, because we’ll be that much better. And two, we’ll be sitting very high in the NCAA [rankings],” Meharg said on the importance of Friday and Sunday’s games. “Weekends number eight, nine and ten … are the weekends that propel you to what’s going to happen in November.”

Friday’s matchup against Ohio State will be the fourth top-five-ranked opponent of Maryland’s season. The Terps struggled in their previous games against opponents ranked inside the top five, as they did not score a goal in any of the contests, leading to all of Maryland’s losses this season.

“One of our goals is to just start early and really put the pressure on them, rather than them putting the pressure on us,” goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko said about what the team has learned from its prior games against top-five-ranked opponents.

The Buckeyes come into College Park with one of the premier offenses in the Big Ten, ranking first in shot percentage and second in scoring, with 44 goals. While Ohio State has recorded 13 different goal scorers, most of its offense is run through Wisconsin transfer Makenna Webster. The Graduate student is a multi-sport Big Ten athlete, playing field hockey in the fall and ice hockey through the winter and spring.

Webster has dominated in her third season with the Buckeyes, sporting 12 goals — third in the Big Ten — and nine assists, tied for first in the Big Ten.

Meharg said on Thursday that in the past, defender Rayne Wright has picked up one-on-one matches against opponents’ top offensive player but would not confirm if Wright would have a similar assignment against Webster.

While Ohio State carries a vaunted offense, it has also displayed one of the best defensive units in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes have surrendered just nine goals in 12 games this season — tied with Maryland for second-fewest in the Big Ten. 

“I think that they’re very fast … and they have a very clear cover, and they get that cover into position,” Meharg said on Ohio State’s defensive unit. “I think our combinations and our players are going to find one-on-one successful, and certainly going and isolating two against ones and getting behind them in [the] front third.”

Spearheading the defensive unit is goalkeeper Abby Danson. The senior has seen major statical improvement from last season, going from a 1.27 goals-against-average and a 0.725 save percentage in 2023 to a 0.69 goal-against-average and a .805 save percentage this season.

After the Terps’ game on Friday against Ohio State, they’ll have less than 48 hours to prepare for No. 9 Michigan (10-1, 3-0 Big Ten) on Sunday afternoon. The Wolverines feature a more potent offense than the Buckeyes, leading the Big Ten with 48 goals.

Michigan showcases similar depth as Maryland and Ohio State, producing 12 different goal scorers. A top of the Wolverine’s offensive unit is Abby Tamer. The redshirt junior spent the summer representing the USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics and has continued her success in NCAA play. 

Similar to Webster on Ohio State, Tamer leads her team in goals — with ten — and is tied for first in the Big Ten in assists with nine.

While Michigan’s defensive unit hasn’t been as potent as Ohio State or Maryland, it doesn’t fall far behind as the Wolverines have allowed just one fewer goal than the Terps and Buckeyes.

Maryland is unbeaten all-time against Ohio State. If that pattern continues, it will secure its win against a top-five team this season.