Preview: No. 8 Maryland field hockey vs. No. 6 Rutgers

No. 8 Maryland field hockey (7-2, 0-0 Big Ten) returns to action after a ten-day hiatus for a difficult matchup in its conference opener, on the road against No. 6 Rutgers (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten).

The last time the Terps were out, they secured their first win against a top-ten opponent this season with a 2-1 victory over No. 7 Virginia.

Both defenses dominated early on, as neither side managed to score in the first quarter. Then Margot Lawn came through for Maryland to go up 1-0 less than four minutes into the second period.

Hannah Boss struck again for the Terps with less than a minute to go in the first half, giving them a 2-0 lead — a big goal as the Cavaliers struck for one of their own in the final frame.

“Virginia is a super athletic team and has a lot of team speed,” coach Missy Meharg said. We were fortunate we played super good one-on-one defense and took advantage of our opportunities.”

Lawn and Boss are two of Maryland’s nine players to register a goal this season as the Terps have used a collective of options offensively. Lawn, Hope Rose and Maci Bradford each enter Wednesday with over 10 points.

The trio has led a Maryland offense that hasn’t been quite as strong as last year’s, with the unit averaging only 2.9 goals per game, compared to last year’s 3.6. The Terps are also averaging over four less shots per game.

Maryland’s constant on offense every time out thus far has been Rose. The junior leads the team in goals (9) and points (19) despite being held in check with zero points in the last two games.

Defensively, the Terps are allowing only one goal per game, good enough for fourth-best in the Big Ten. They’ve been especially strong goaltending, with Alyssa Klebasko stepping up in a big way for Maryland. The freshman made seven saves for the Terps in the victory over Virginia.

“She definitely came out strong,” Rose said. “And kind of set the tone for the rest of the team with the amount of saves she had at the beginning of the game.”

Klebasko will face a talented Scarlet Knights offense, averaging over 2.4 goals per game.

Rutgers enters the game undefeated after a 4-2 victory over No. 17 UMass Amherst on Sunday. 

The Minuteman jumped to a 1-0 lead less then a minute into the game, but the Scarlet Knights responded with four-straight goals on the back of a hat trick by junior Guillermina Causarano.

The midfielder is Rutgers’ biggest threat on offense, as she leads her offense in points (20) and is tied for the team lead in goals (7) with Puck Winter. No other Scarlet Knight has registered more than 2 goals.

“What makes them dangerous is their ability to up their right side of their field and to our backhand side,” Meharg said. “We’ll want to be able to control that and counter attack out of it.”

Maryland holds a 35-4-1 lead all-time against Rutgers. The Terps came out with a slight 4-3 home victory in the schools’ last meeting to clinch the Big Ten regular season title.

The game will start at 3 p.m. on Thursday and will take place at Bauer Track and Field Complex in Piscataway.