No. 4 Maryland field hockey closed its weekend in Evanston, Ill., with a tight 1-0 loss to No. 5 Duke on Sunday. It was the Terps’ first loss of the season, now holding a 3-1 record.
The first few minutes of the game were all Duke. From the opening hit, the Blue Devils were in Maryland’s face, operating an immensely high press that forced an experienced Maryland defense into uncharacteristic turnovers.
Sloppy defending off one of those turnovers offered Duke a penalty corner just two minutes into the game. Macy Szukics’ entry was turned in by Brynn Crouse, but the goal was overturned by a referee-initiated referral for having struck a foot.
Just one minute later, the Terps were helped out by a referral again, initiating their own to deny the Blue Devils a penalty corner after Klebasko correctly felt an infraction had occurred.
With an early storm weathered, the Terps started to assert themselves. Maryland dominated possession for the last 20 minutes of the first half, spending large periods pushing Duke backward toward its own net and looking for a final pass.
Without the ball, the Maryland press also made its mark, forcing errant passes from Duke defenders. Warning shots in the second quarter from Josie Hollamon, Maya Everett and Fleur Knopert on consecutive penalty corners signaled the Terps’ intent, but those shots went unfinished and a good spell was wasted.
Coming out of halftime, the mood of the game shifted. Duke still had its back against the wall, but played more surely.
While Maryland began the third quarter well, several chances did not materialize.
Those chances were rued when, with just over eight minutes remaining in the quarter, Duke midfielder Josephine Palde turned the game on its head. Palde picked up the ball on a restart, evaded three Terp defenders and hit a ferocious shot from point-blank range that flew past Alyssa Klebasko’s left foot.
The Terps were shocked, and for good reason. Palde’s goal was the only Duke shot on goal of the day, and the only shot of any kind outside of the initial two minutes.
As Maryland tried to fight back, Duke began to slow the game down and put clamps on the key Maryland playmakers. The Blue Devils continued triggering the press that gave Maryland’s ball progression fits, and the Terps were unable to string enough chances together to truly challenge goalkeeper Frederique Wollaert, who finished the game with four saves off 10 Terp shots.
With 10 minutes left in the game, though, Maryland was offered a gift. Duke’s third card of the contest was a yellow that went to Barb Civitella after a foul on Alina Gerke. This gave Maryland a five-minute woman-up advantage, but the Terps were unable to make the Blue Devils pay.
Another late review referral, the fifth of the game, summed up the second half for Maryland. Whereas small things had gone the Terps way to start the game, Gerke’s confident call for a foul, which was not given, ended what could have been a sustained Terp possession and gave the Blue Devils the ball, allowing them to soak up more of the clock.
Even with Klebasko pulled for the final three minutes, Maryland was unable to generate a chance to tie the game, having simply run out of steam.
Three things to know
1. Depth for Duke. The Blue Devils substituted 31 times in the first half, bringing 21 different players into the fray, as they successfully weathered the Terps’ first-half storm.
2. The Devils won the details. Duke’s star-studded midfield trio of Kira Curland, Crouse and Bronwyn Bird each played at least 56 minutes, and did so effectively. The Terps, who won their first three gams off the back of midfield dominance, struggled to progress the ball upfield for the majority of the game.
3. Rebound needed for the Terps. Maryland will need to quickly forget Sunday’s game, as it begins the Terrapin Invitational Friday against No. 3 Virginia, who beat the Terps in last year’s NCAA quarterfinals.
