As the seconds wound down in the first overtime, both No. 8 Maryland and No. 12 Virginia seemed gassed and ready to head to second overtime, but Terps forward Hope Rose delivered her biggest goal of the season to end the match.
With under 40 seconds left in the first overtime, midfielder Bibi Donraadt tipped the ball over to Rose who smacked the ball through the legs of the Cavaliers goaltender. Rose’s goal propelled Maryland field hockey (8-4, B1G 1-3) to a 2-1 OT victory against Virginia (7-4, ACC 2-1) to secure one of its biggest wins of the season.
“It was exciting,” Rose said. “I think everyone had enough gas left in the tank to push through.”
Throughout the match it seemed that overtime was inevitable with the score tied at zero.
However, after over 54 minutes of no goals both Virginia and Maryland scored off of penalty corners within a minute of each other to force overtime all tied up at 1-1.
The Cavaliers struck first when forward Laura Janssen deflected the ball into the net off a penalty corner.
About a minute later, Maryland tied the game up off a penalty corner of their own when midfielder Kyler Greenwalt scored after Kennedy blocked midfielder Julianna Tornetta’s shot off a penalty corner.
“We just didn’t give up,” Greenwalt said. “I’m just really glad we could capitalize.”
The Cavaliers dominated early, outshooting the Terps 11-3 at halftime. Both teams had numerous opportunities to score, but each teams’ goalie and defense shined.
With under three minutes left in the first quarter, the Cavaliers had a great opportunity after Terps goalie Noelle Frost came out of the net, but failed to stop Cavaliers midfielder Noa Boterman’s shot. However, Terps defender Maura Verleg cleared the ball away from the net, picking up a defensive save.
With 1:51 left in the second quarter, the Cavaliers earned three straight penalty corners but the Terps penalty corner unit held strong with Frost saving all three shots.
At halftime, Frost recorded five saves which would be the number she would finish with while Kennedy finished with eight saves including six saves in the second half and overtime.
In the middle of the third quarter, Terps midfielder Emma DeBerdine had a great scoring opportunity on the left side of the cage, but Kennedy made a phenomenal diving save blocking the ball with her stick, keeping the game scoreless.
With under 2:12 left in the third quarter, the Terps earned two more penalty corners, but the Cavaliers corner defense blocked Julianna Tornetta’s shot and Kennedy saved defender Riley Donnelly’s shot.
In the end, head coach Missy Meharg was proud of the resiliency of the team throughout Thursday’s big victory.
“Tying it and going to overtime to win it is a real testament to the personality of this team,” Meharg said.
The Terps picked up their first win against a top 15 team since their 4-0 shutout of then No. 12 Duke over Labor Day Weekend.
The Terps will return to College Park to face James Madison on Sunday at 1 p.m.
