After beginning the season with two hard-earned wins at home against Louisville and Drexel, the Terps are on the road for the only time in September in what may prove to be a challenging weekend.
The Big Ten/ACC Cup, a hallmark of modern field hockey created by Maryland head coach Missy Meharg in 2015, will be hosted by Northwestern this year. Maryland will travel to Evanston, Ill. and take on familiar ACC foes in No. 17 Boston College and No. 5 Duke.
Maryland’s game against the Eagles will take place on Friday and begin at 3 p.m. before it faces off against the Blue Devils on Sunday at noon.
Boston College (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
2023 Record: 11-7 (2-4 ACC)
Head coach Kelly Doton enters her 10th season at the head of Boston College field hockey. He led the team to the ACC championship game and the NCAA Final Four in 2019, which was the last time the Eagles reached the NCAA tournament.
Boston College started their season ranked No. 17 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Organization preseason poll. In their opening weekend tour of Boston, the Eagles beat Northeastern and Boston University.
The game against the Terps will be their first contest against a ranked opponent this year.
Players to know
Peyton Hale, graduate midfielder, No. 17 — In 2023, Hale was named to the All-ACC first team and scored the second-most goals and points on the team, with 10 and 26, respectively. Hale appears to be picking off where she left off last year, with two goals and an assist already to her name.
Yani Zhong, graduate midfielder/forward, No. 9 — A newcomer, Zhong was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, and graduated from Hamburg University earlier this year. A three-time German Youth National Champion, Zhong scored two against Northeastern and assisted on two goals against Boston University in her first games of Division I lacrosse.
Strength
Goal scoring. Last season, Boston College finished 12th in Division I in goals per game with 2.8. It is averaging 4.5 goals per game thus far.
Weakness
Ranked opponents. The Eagles have the firepower to overwhelm most defenses, yet when the quality of their opponents increased, Boston College has been unable to get results. Last year, the Eagles went 1-5 against ranked opponents, after going 3-6 in ranked matchups in 2022.
Duke (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
2023 Record: 18-5 (5-1 ACC)
Head coach Pam Bustin returns to the Blue Devils program for her 14th season. After three straight losing seasons, Bustin inspired a revival for Duke last year, bringing the Blue Devils to 18 wins and a share of the ACC regular season title. Duke appeared in the ACC championship game and NCAA Tournament semifinals.
Entering the year, Duke was ranked No. 5 in the NFHCA’s preseason poll, just behind the Terps. So far, the Blue Devils have played home games against William & Mary and UMass Lowell, winning 5-0 and 3-1, respectively.
Players to know
Alaina McVeigh, junior forward, No. 14 — McVeigh had a stellar sophomore season last year, tallying 17 goals for the Blue Devils in 23 games, including overtime game-winners against then-No. 9 Liberty and then-No. 15 Harvard. That scoring prowess led McVeigh to a 2023 first-team All-American selection, which she is on track to repeat in 2024 with three goals in her first two games.
Bronwyn Bird, graduate midfielder, No. 3 — Bird is a new face for the Blue Devils after transferring from Dartmouth. Bird scored 21 points over the last two seasons, earning two straight second-team All-Ivy League selections. And while she has not scored a point yet for Duke, Bird has made herself a key fixture in the midfield, playing every minute so far.
Strength
Experience. Duke returns 13 players who played in at least 18 games for Duke last season. It also brought in three transfer students in forward Hannah Maxwell, Bird and goalkeeper Frederique Wollaert. Maxwell and Bird each have more than 50 Division I games played, and Wollaert started in every game over the last two seasons for the UPenn.
Weakness
Star power. Last year, 45.1% of the total points Duke scored came from two players: McVeigh and Hannah Miller, who graduated. McVeigh and Miller were two of just five Blue Devils players with double-digit points last season, and no other returner logged more than five goals. If the Terps defense can shut down McVeigh, questions will arise over which Blue Devil can carry the torch.
Three things to watch
1. Historical records on the line. Since Meharg started the Big Ten/ACC Cup, Maryland is 8-8. Their eight wins rank third behind Northwestern’s nine and Duke’s 10, as the Terps look to match or surpass both teams.
2. Overtime struggles for Boston College. The Eagles played in five overtime games last year and lost four of them, including a 1-0 loss to Maryland. The resilience Maryland showed in its 78-minute double-overtime opener puts the Terps in a promising position should their game require extra periods.
3. 800th win on the line. The Terps have won 798 games as a program. With two ranked opponents coming up, a sweep of this weekend would give Maryland number 800 in style.
