Maryland field hockey entered 2025 looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 season. The Terps lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Duke, and were eager to avenge that loss.
Ranked as the preseason No. 4 team in the country, Maryland was poised for another successful season in the 38th year of head coach Missy Meharg’s tenure.
Instead, the season was a disappointment — even more so than last season. The Terps finished just 10-8 on the year and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994, excluding 2020.
Maryland started off the season strong with wins over Stanford and Villanova. True freshman Jordyn Hollamon immediately broke onto the college scene, tallying two goals and one assist in the Terps’ first two games.
Hollamon would go on to lead the Terps with seven goals in her freshman campaign, en route to Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
Following the 2-0 start, Maryland traveled to Durham, NC, for the Big Ten/ACC challenge. The ensuing losses to Duke and Boston College would highlight the issue that would plague the Terps all season — their offense.
Maryland scored just once in those two games and struggled to capitalize on penalty corners, a problem that would persist throughout the year.
Despite the struggles against Duke and Boston College, Maryland showed it could still achieve the lofty goals it had going into the season. The Terps rattled off four straight wins, beating Penn, St. Joseph’s, Penn State and Michigan.
Even with the four-game winning streak, offensive question marks remained. Led by a dominant defense and elite goalkeeping by Alyssa Klebasko, the Terps offense was incredibly reliant on a three-headed monster of Maci Bradford, Ella Gaitan and the aforementioned Hollamon.
This heavy reliance on just three offensive players held the Terps back for the rest of the season. The offense struggled to score in back-to-back losses against Princeton and Ohio State. Even in wins against Michigan State and Iowa, the Terps struggled to convert on shots.
Maryland had a chance for a get-right against Indiana, which at that point was winless in conference play. Instead, the Terps played possibly their worst game of the season. Maryland had its worst offensive performance in the overtime loss, as it failed to score after the first minute — even in shootouts.
Maryland followed up the loss to Indiana with a battle against then No. 1 Northwestern, but the Terps couldn’t hold onto a halftime lead.
A key reason for Maryland’s offensive struggles was Gaitan’s injury during the Terps’ win over Michigan State, which sidelined her for the next three games. This included the losses to Indiana and Northwestern.
Gaitan was one of the few consistent offensive producers on the Terps’ roster, and without her, it became even more stagnant than before. Even after Gaitan returned from her injury with three games remaining in the regular season, she and the Terps never returned to their pre-injury form. Gaitan did not record a point since returning from injury, and was almost a non-factor for the rest of the season.
After wins against Rutgers and Northeastern, and a loss to Virginia, the Terps went into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 2-seed and No. 11 in the country. It would take an incredibly poor showing in the Big Ten tournament for Maryland.
An abysmal showing was exactly what Maryland produced. A first-round exit at the hands of No. 7-seed Ohio State. The offense failed to convert chances into goals again, and this time, it cost the Terps their season.
Maryland dropped to No. 17 in the rankings and missed the NCAA tournament entirely for the first time in over 30 years.
Now Maryland will have to wait until 2026 to right the ship and return to the standard of Meharg’s program. Maryland will return many of its key players, including Josie and Jordyn Holloman, Klebasko, Bradford and Gaitan. The Terps will look to return to the NCAA Tournament and win the eighth national championship in the Meharg era.
