With 2:14 left in the match, the Wolverines earned one final penalty corner looking for an equalizer, but midfielder Sofia Southam pushed her shot to the left of the net, ending their bid to send the game to overtime.
No. 8 Maryland field hockey (12-5, B1G 3-4) held on to upset No. 2 Michigan (13-2, B1G 5-2) 2-1 in Ann Arbor and earn its first top ten win of the season and send the Wolverines to their only home loss of 2021.
“I’m just so proud of our defense and the way we are playing resilient, tough defense,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “Great shot selection and great finishing, I just couldn’t be more proud of the team.”
This is the Terps first win against Michigan since 2018 and their first win at Ann Arbor since 2014.
The Terps opened the scoring up late in the first quarter. Midfielder Brooke DeBerdine sent the ball into the circle to defender Taylor Mason, who hit a rocket towards the bottom left corner of the net to give the Terps an early 1-0 lead.
The Terps penalty corner defense came up big time and again, stopping seven of the Wolverines eight penalty corners.
“I think our corner defense was so solid, always pressuring their shots,” midfielder Julianna Tornetta said. “I think their shots going off target were because of our presence on corners.”
The Wolverines had a great look with under five minutes in the second quarter, but Frost and defender Rayne Wright cleared the ball away from midfielder Lora Clarke before she could get a shot off.
Clarke drew a Wolverines penalty corner. However, the Terps blocked the Wolverines shot and on their next corner, midfielder Anouk Veen’s shot went wide.
At halftime, the game was still a defensive battle with both teams taking six shots and a total of six saves combined between Frost and Wolverines goalie Anna Spieker.
Frost would finish with six saves while Spieker finished with four saves.
Four minutes into the third quarter, the Wolverines earned another corner but Frost dove for the ball and saved the shot preserving the Terps 1-0 lead.
About three minutes later, the Wolverines managed to tie the game up on their seventh penalty corner. The Wolverines sent passes around the circle and were unable to find a great look while the Terps could not clear the ball, but midfielder Nina Apoola found Southam who tipped the ball into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
About five minutes later Tornetta sent the ball into the circle and Donraadt deflected the ball into the net to reclaim the lead which turned out to be the game winning goal.
“This is a huge win for us, especially because we hadn’t done as well as we would have liked to,” Mason said. “I just think all around our team played with great strength and like grit.”
Defender Maura Verleg came up big with under six minutes left. Verleg kept the ball away from Wolverines while in and just outside the circle to prevent the Wolverines from tying the game up.
The Wolverines pulled Spieker with about four minutes left, but the Terps defense held strong keeping the Wolverines from forcing overtime to earn their biggest win of the season.
The Terps conclude the regular season at home on Friday at 6 p.m. against No. 21 Ohio State.
