No. 1 Maryland field hockey entered its second-round Big Ten Tournament matchup on Friday afternoon just one week after closing out its regular season against No. 10 Iowa. 

The Terps made no changes in an Ella Beach dominated game.

Maryland took down the Hawkeyes again in a 4-1 tournament win.

Beach saw the field for nearly 50 minutes, during which she saw multiple scoring opportunities, including a goal on a penalty corner that put Maryland up by three.

Beach has started every game this season and has made her mark on this young Maryland team.

“She’s been amazing, and you can play her anywhere on the field … she’s playing really good hockey,” Meharg said of Beach’s impact on the team.

The Terps are 3-1 all-time against the Hawkeyes in the tournament with their most recent tournament matchup ending in a 1-0 Maryland shootout win in 2024.

After meeting Iowa a week ago, Maryland didn’t change its game plan.

Maryland started the same 12 players on Friday as they did last week against the Hawkeyes.

Everything, almost down to who scored, was the exact same for the Terps.

“We didn’t make a lot of adjustments other than change up what we did at different times than we did the last time we played them,” head coach Missy Meharg said.

Maryland scored two goals in the first and third quarters to capture the 4-1 win over the Hawkeyes.

With its win over Iowa, Maryland advances to the Tournament championship, where they will take on Northwestern.

Babs Van Hest scored both her goals on corners for the Terps, while Ella Beach notched her second of the tournament. 

Jordyn Hollamon also bagged her first of the tournament with a backhand shot to put Maryland up early against the Hawkeyes.

The early start for the Terps was once again enough for Iowa head coach Lisa Cellucci to pull starting goalie Abby Johnson after the first quarter.

The goalie change proved to be beneficial for the Terps once again scoring another two goals on backup goalie Julie Claessens.

“We used some nice deflections in the shell area that got into people’s feet. We got corners… and we were just super creative,” said Meharg on the impact of the goalie change.

While the quick start to games hasn’t been the major takeaway of the regular season for the Terps, it has certainly been a key factor lately.

In the regular season, Maryland scored first in 14 of its 16 games.

And it’s not slowing down.

The quick start has been a deciding factor in the two tournament games, as Maryland has scored four goals in the first half in two games. 

Big Ten Freshman of the Year Ella Beach has been a major reason for Maryland’s early dominance.

In Beach’s two games played, she has two goals in 100 total minutes of game time.

She looks to continue her late-season dominance as the Terps get ready for the Big Ten Championship on Sunday afternoon.