No. 10 Maryland field hockey’s start was sloppy, but its final 30 minutes ultimately decided the outcome. Through great goalkeeping from Alyssa Klebasko and an all-around dominant second half, the Terps turned the game in their favor.
Klebasko made six saves, only allowing one goal, and kept Penn from capitalizing on an offensive flurry towards the end of the first half. Those stops allowed Maryland’s offense to find its groove.
The Terps scored twice in the second half, propelling Maryland to a 3-1 victory and moving them to 3-2 on the year.
The matchup was a return to College Park for first-year Penn head coach Scott Tupper, who spent the last four years on the Maryland staff under Missy Meharg. But the coaching reunion led to some fireworks between Meharg and her former assistant head coach.
“He’s a great coach and I knew that Penn would be far more organized, technical, and deliberate about what they were doing,” Meharg said. “Penn’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
Penn started the game slowly, working the ball around. But Maryland was quickly able to take control of possession and push the ball up the field, earning their first corner of the game.
The Terps took full advantage, as Ella Gaitan found Maci Bradford, who fired the ball into the bottom of the net for her second goal of the season. That gave Maryland a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game.
Penn’s offense got going immediately after, earning a corner with 10:35 remaining in the first quarter, but the Terps’ defense held firm, deflecting the shot over the goal.
The Quackers earned another chance with their second corner of the game and this time, they found the back of the net. Honor Roberts put the ball over the outstretched glove of Klebasko, tying the score at one.
The second quarter started eerily similar to the first, with Maryland quickly taking control of the ball and pushing it towards the Penn goal. The Penn defense held strong, not allowing Maryland to get any open space to create chances.
Penn got a chance with a corner opportunity, but the Maryland defense prevented the shot from reaching the net. Penn kept pressure on the goal and Naomi Esterowitz shot the ball towards Klebasko, who made the save for her third of the game.
Penn generated some more offense with 45 seconds remaining in the half, but Klebasko made a great sliding save to deflect the ball away from the Maryland goal.
Another save by Klebasko resulted in a Maryland counterattack right before half, but the shot by Maddy Visilios was saved, keeping the score tied as time expired on the first half of play.
Coming out of halftime, Maryland’s offense earned another penalty corner, but the Terps’ season-long inconsistency from corners continued, as the shot by Ellie Goldstein was easily saved by Ruby de Frees.
Maryland kept some offensive pressure on, and after gaining possession on Penn’s side of the field, the Terps quickly were able to earn another penalty corner. Again, Maryland failed to take advantage.
The Terps were able to create a chance on the counterattack with Maia Adamson taking the ball up the middle of the field. She dished it to Bradford, who scored her second goal of the game, giving Maryland the lead with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter. The Terps’ offense was sparked with some life.
“It was just a relief because we were pounding them so hard,” Bradford said. “I think it was really good to put one in the net.”
Maryland was able to keep the momentum going, as just under two minutes later, Maddie Vasilios scored, assisted by Callie Rogers, to give the Terps a 3-1 lead with 1:30 remaining in the quarter.
After a Maryland penalty, Penn was unable to take advantage of their extra player, and the Terps’ defense held strong, not allowing Penn to get any shots off.
Maryland will try to carry its second-half performance into the Terps’ ranked matchup against No. 13 Saint Joseph’s on Sunday.
