Season Preview: No.4 Maryland field hockey looks to avenge last year’s shortened season

Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins

Last year, Maryland field hockey seemed poised to make another deep run after reaching the Final Four in each of its past two seasons. 

Despite a convincing 3-0 win in the Terps’ prior matchup against Old Dominion and home turf advantage in the NCAA regional matchups, they fell short in the quarterfinals against Virginia. 

The 4-0 loss was only the second time the Terps were shut out all season and also marked the second occasion Maryland’s defense surrendered four or more goals in a single game.

“We held ourselves very accountable for our lack of readiness for that day,” said coach Missy Meharg on the loss to Virginia. “We’ve debriefed that well and put a line through it, and I don’t imagine that ever happening again.”

Maryland enters this season ranked fourth in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association preseason rankings. 

While much of the Terps team from last year remains intact, their midfield will be bolstered by the return of Emma Deberdine. The graduate student has spent her entire collegiate career in College Park. She will rejoin Maryland after spending time on the U.S. Women’s National team and competing for Team U.S.A. at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I left not thinking that I was going to have the opportunity to come back,” Deberdine said on returning to Maryland. “I kind of got the best of both worlds…I got to go to the Olympics [but] I also got to come back [to] Maryland, and I missed it here.”

The Terps’ midfield will also get a boost from former forward Hope Rose. The senior has dominated in her prior three seasons at forward, making First Team All-Big Ten last year and finishing as Maryland’s top goal scorer the past two seasons.

She’ll now look to continue that success in the midfield.

“Maryland, in the past few years, has been losing a lot of speed,” Meharg said on moving Rose from forward to midfield. “It’s different having great speed coming out of the back than if you have it in the midfield and going from your midfield to the front field.”

The Terps will start their season at home against No. 7 Louisville on Friday, beginning a brutal stretch of the schedule that includes six top-20-ranked teams in their first eight games. 

The Cardinals suffered a similar fate to the Terps last season, falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Louisville still has much of their core from last year’s team but will be without goalkeeper Merlijn van der Vegt, who played in all of Louisville’s games last season.

To help fill the role, Louisville brought in transfer student Brandelynn Heinbaugh, who sported a 2.82 goals against average and a 0.652 save percentage last season at JMU.

“I assume [Heinbaugh] would be playing, but they have a freshman and a sophomore [too],” Meharg said on Louisville’s goalkeeper situation. “If we play combinational hockey and assist and want other people to get the open goal, it doesn’t matter who’s going to be in [the] net.”

Last season, the Cardinals struggled to score goals, averaging 1.73 goals per game and finishing second to last in the ACC in that category. 

Louisville’s offensive struggles give Maryland’s goalkeeper — Alyssa Klebasko — a chance to carry over her stellar performance from last season. Klebasko appeared in 20 games and finished second in the Big Ten in goals against and save percentage as a freshman.

“Both Alyssa and Paige [Kieft] are great people to have behind [with] their communication,” Rayne Wright said. “Just being able to collaborate on helping other defenders, and even myself…is amazing because every day we’re trying to make everything an instinct.”

Maryland will look to secure a crucial season-opening win in College Park on Friday at 6:30 p.m.