On a humid, gloomy Friday night at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex, No. 5 Maryland field hockey was defeated, 1-0, by No. 2 Northwestern.
After three straight sunny weekends in College Park, it was as if Mother Nature herself knew something was different about today’s game. The usual bright blue evening sky was replaced by grey clouds and intermittent rain, a fitting welcome for an imperious opponent that has not lost a game all year.
The two teams have played 17 times since Maryland joined the Big Ten. This was the 14th time the matchup was decided by one goal.
Maryland had lost four straight against Northwestern entering Friday, including games that denied the Terps a share of the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten tournament championship last year.
Despite the negative ambience, the Terps were optimistic entering such a monumental game.
A big part of that belief was Rayne Wright’s return to the starting lineup. The defender — who had played every game of her career before last week — made an immediate impact back on the field, calming down Maryland’s initial possession efforts. And after Ericka Morris-Adams picked up a green card in the opening three minutes, Wright made several key challenges to keep the Northwestern offense away from the goal.
But the Wildcat offense could not be slowed forever. Just under six minutes into the quarter, Wright conceded a penalty corner and Ilse Tromp fired in a howitzer for the Wildcats that goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko met at full stretch with her left palm.
Klebasko was called into action again just a minute later, as Northwestern’s suffocating offensive press created a chance that forward Regan Cornelius would have poked home if not for a split stop by the Terps’ No. 1.
Maryland struggled to retain possession for the entire first quarter, and it proved costly. A sloppy turnover gave Ashley Sessa a chance to swing in a penalty corner for Northwestern, but a foul by the Terps set up a second bite at the cherry. The Wildcats’ offense was not going to miss another chance. The corner from Sessa again went to Tromp, and this time she sent a missile past Klebasko.
Maryland just seemed to hang on until the end of the first quarter, barely touching the ball. However, the Terps entered the second frame a completely different team. Head coach Missy Meharg put it down to the team working through their nerves and settling into the game.
“We have seven new players that are really blending into this team,” Meharg said. “We’re still evolving.”
Maryland even evolved within the game. It found a creative solution to a ferocious Northwestern press that had kept the ball in the Maryland half for nearly the entire opening 15 minutes. Instead of playing directly, searching for long, sweeping balls to advance the team up the field, Maryland started to compact itself, leaning into the press.
For a time, it worked. The Terps caught their opponents fully off guard, spending much of the second quarter in control of the ball and looking to press their advantage. Maryland won four penalty corners and took four shots in the second quarter, with one coming particularly close.
Captain Emma DeBerdine swung in her third penalty corner of the quarter to Hope Rose, and Rose faked out the entire defense before sending it right back to DeBerdine, who had taken up residence right next to Wildcat goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz. DeBerdine tried to squeeze the ball through low and inside, but the 2023 NFHCA first-team All American goalkeeper was not to be beaten so easily.
Despite the intent, the Terps were unable to capitalize on a strong second quarter, entering halftime a goal down.
Coming out of the half, the Terps tried to play the same game, but Northwestern was wiser to the tricks. The Wildcats solidified the spine of the team and refused to allow the same cross-field passes that had helped the Terps break pressure. Instead, Maryland was left to play lower-probability, searching balls as it had in the first quarter.
This gave Northwestern an opportunity to grow back into the game. The Wildcats took more possession and slowed the ball down, exerting more control on affairs. Two penalty corners halfway through the third quarter gave the Terps another fright, with Tromp launching another missile directly into Klebasko’s stomach. Two more shots by Northwestern ending the quarter whistled wide, keeping the Terps on their toes.
In the fourth, though, it appeared to all be over for Maryland. Midfielder Lauren Wadas popped up with the ball mere feet from the Maryland goal and slid a low shot through legs, but pure reflexes from Klebasko kept the Terps in the game.
Two more penalty corners from the Wildcats threatened the goal. The first was deflected away by Morris-Adams, but the second, another thunderbolt in the drizzle from Tromp, flew toward the underside of Maryland’s net before being denied by Klebasko once again.
“Wow, our goalie was good. I guess that’s why she got [our] player of the game,” Meharg said. “Alyssa Klebasko is very strong.”
But ultimately, despite the incredible effort from Klebasko, the Terps were unable to press on the advantages they finally created. Northwestern’s Laura Salamanca picked up a yellow card with seven minutes remaining in the game, giving Maryland an opportunity to attack a player up for an extended period of time. That led to two good chances on penalty corners, but neither Ella Gaitan nor Hope Rose could find a way past Skubisz.
With five minutes remaining, Klebasko was pulled from the goal; that gave Maryland a two-player advantage for three minutes and kept them one up for the final two. But despite the extra sticks, the Terps just could not find the final ball.
“We put ourselves in a tough spot again. … we’re all a little tired of losing one-nothing,” Meharg said. “We’re a very good field hockey team, and you have to think that you can just keep growing from these opportunities.”
Three things to know
1. Recent history repeats itself. The Terps dropped their fifth straight game — and eighth of their last 11 — against Northwestern. This is only the third time the Terps have lost to Northwestern in College Park.
2. Penalty corner battle one-sided. The Wildcats had 11 penalty corners to the Terps’ seven, and Northwestern was far more threatening. All six Northwestern shots on goal came from Tromp off penalty corners, while the Terps only had two total shots from dead ball play.
3. Road trip time for the Terps. Maryland will head on a three-game road trip and will not return to the Plex until Oct. 14, when they will play American University. Next up for the Terps is Indiana next Friday.
