By Katie Christ
After falling to Albany in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, the Maryland Terrapins were unsuccessful in seeking revenge on the Great Danes Friday afternoon, losing at home at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Md.
In a nearly identical outcome to last November’s game, the No. 8 ranked Terps fell 2-1 to the No. 7 ranked Danes, their third loss in a row, bringing the team to a 2-3 record on the season.
“I think overall this was a wake up call. We wanted it to be last weekend but I think this will definitely change the mentality of the team for the rest of the season,” said senior captain Sarah Sprink.
Both teams were scoreless in the first half. The Terps offense had plenty of opportunities to get on the board, taking fourteen shots on goal against Albany’s goalie Maxi Primus. Despite these opportunities, they were not able to get the ball in the goal.
“We’ve got to connect the midfield to the attack in such a way that we score simple goals,” said head coach Missy Meharg, “I know the women can do it, we do it in training, we did it at the beginning of the year and we’re just struggling right now and we will work hard on it.”
In the second half, Albany scored the first goal of the game, a shot by Anna Bottino and assisted by Paula Heuser. Heuser then scored again for the Danes, bringing the game to 2-0 Albany. Albany only had five shots on goals compared to Maryland’s 23. While the Danes capitalized on their opportunities to score, the Terps struggled to get a goal past Primus.
“She’s a good goalie,” Meharg said, “she was last year against us here and she was this year.”
With just seven minutes to play in the second half, the Terps finally put one past Primus, as senior forward Welma Luus scored for the Terps, with an assist from junior Emma Rissinger. But it was not enough to overcome Albany’s lead.
“Of course the energy is going to pick up if your down 2-0 and you score,” Luus said after the game, “you feel like you have a chance, it was the same situation as last time. We weren’t able to get that second goal and I think that’s the focus for now. We had so many chances today, we need to finish on more of them.”
Sprink agreed, “we have a lot of players that can step up their play more intensely, getting those goals, those touches on the ball, that’s something we need to work on.
“It’s frustrating but I think everyone is frustrated and no matter where they played I think all of us need to step up our game and figure out what it is we need to clean up and just do it.”
