Preview: No. 4 Maryland field hockey to face Miami (OH) and Yale in Terrapin Invitational

No. 4 Maryland field hockey (4-1) will remain at home this weekend as it hosts the Terrapin Invitational, taking on Miami (OH) (3-1) on Friday and Yale (1-1) on Sunday.

The Terps come into the weekend on the heels of hosting the B1G/ACC cup last weekend, where they finished 1-1 against No. 13 Duke and No. 16 Boston College.

“I’m very proud of the team,” coach Missy Meharg said after Maryland’s win over Boston College. “I’m looking forward to another great weekend with the Terrapin Invitational.”

Maryland started off its matchup against Duke hot, with graduate student Ashlyn Carr scoring her first goal as a Terp less than 30 seconds into the game to make it 1-0. But it didn’t take long for the Terps and Blue Devils to enter an offensive stalemate, as both sides combined for just five shots during the rest of the first half.

The Terps made a valiant effort in the heat but couldn’t prevent Duke from tying the game in the third quarter and firing off the game-winner with just a minute remaining to secure a 2-1 win.

The Terps had yet another low scoring affair on Sunday against Boston College, with both defenses shining in a scoreless regulation. Then freshman Josie Hollamon struck just two minutes into overtime for the first goal of her career and the game-winner for the Terps.

“We’re fairly confident in our overtime play,” graduate student defender Nathalie Fiechter said. “We’ve won a lot of games in overtime, so we were all very calm and composed and knew what we had to get done.”

Even after the weekend’s low scoring affairs, Maryland has still outscored its opponents 16-3 on the year, with both goalkeepers in freshman Alyssa Klebasko and junior Paige Kieft combining for a .857 save percentage.

Junior star Hope Rose still leads the Terps with 11 points, although freshman Maci Bradford isn’t far behind with eight points. They’ll look to lead Maryland’s offense this weekend, with its first test coming against Miami.

The Redhawks started the year hot, going a perfect 3-0 entering Monday. But then Indiana held them scoreless in their second game of the Theresa Check Invitational, and they fell 2-0 as a result. That invitational started with a 3-1 victory over Saint Francis.

Miami got on the scoreboard within the closing minutes of the first quarter on a goal by sophomore Riley Mazzalupi, going ahead 1-0. The Redhawks didn’t relinquish their lead from that point on, cruising to a 2-1 advantage over the final 45 minutes. The Redhawks managed to put up nine shots on goal during the course of the game while limiting Saint Francis to only three shots total.

Junior Carlie Servis currently leads the Redhawks in points (six), with senior Claudia Negrete Garcia shortly behind (four).

Yale started its 2023 campaign off with a split weekend last time out, defeating Temple 1-0 to start its season before falling 6-1 to No. 10 Saint Joseph’s.

Junior Nicole Gotthardt scored the only goal in the victory and currently leads the Bulldogs with four points. Junior Ellie Barlow is the only other player with multiple points (two) on the season as she’s assisted on each of Yale’s goals.

Maryland holds an all-time record of 2-0 against Miami, while its meeting with Yale will be the first in the schools’ history.

Miami’s matchup will take place at 5 p.m. on Friday, while Yale’s will occur at noon on Sunday. Both games will be held at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.