After an action-packed first half, No. 9 Maryland field hockey (1-1) could not convert their numerous scoring opportunities and ultimately lost 3-2 to No. 7 Boston College (3-0).
Following a first half full of excitement, with the Eagles and Terps trading goals in quick succession, one long stalemate persisted in the games final 30 minutes. Unfortunately for Maryland, the goals it scored in the opening half weren’t enough.
“We played a great third and fourth quarter,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “Maryland needs to start strong and be responsible in our backfield and man-to-man marking. We have been working a lot on getting under aerial balls and I thought BC took advantage of us.”
Five minutes into the game, the Eagles struck first off a quick restart. Eagles midfielder Pia Serowik passed the ball to midfielder Kendall Hanlon who sent the ball past Noelle Frost to take an early 1-0 lead.
Less than a minute later the Terps drove the ball to the other net and earned a penalty corner, the first of three in a row. On the Terps third attempt, they executed a perfect penalty corner when forward Bibi Donraadt inserted the ball to defender Maura Verleg who found Riley Donnelly for the game tying finish.
A little more than six minutes later, the Eagles earned their second penalty corner. Frost left the cage and saved the initial shot, but Eagles defender Sarah Johnson snagged the rebound and pushed it into the empty net to take a 2-1 lead.
The Terps erased the lead one more time when midfielder Julianna Tornetta intercepted an Eagles pass and sent the ball to forward Margot Lawn who skirted around Kennedy and shot the ball into the goal to tie the game up again at 2-2.
Two minutes later, Boston College scored what ended up being the game winner after a resoundingly quiet second half.
When Eagles midfielder Milagros Arteta snuck behind the Terps defense, she faced an easy one-on-one opportunity and made sure to make do with her chance. After receiving a pass from defender Sky Caron, Arteta sent the ball past Frost on just her first touch to break the tie.
“I think BC had some great distribution out of the back through Sky [Caron] and a lot of long passes which are really threatening and a lot of aerials which I think we adjusted to better in the second half,” Donnelly said.
In the deadlock that followed, the Terps had earned a handful of quality chances, but failed to pair them with equally quality finishes.
At one point early in the third quarter, forward Hope Rose had two quick shots in the beginning of the third quarter. Rose’s first shot was deflected and the second one missed just wide. Early in the fourth quarter Rose attacked again and registered two more shots but one was saved by Eagles goalie Jonna Kennedy and the other was wide.
Tornetta also had several shots at equalizing. Once in the third quarter, she drove the ball up and fired a shot that was saved. With two minutes to go and the Terps utilizing an extra player advantage, Maryland drove the ball down the field again, eventually drawing the final penalty corner of the game. Donraadt slid the ball to Tornetta, giving the forward a clean strike at the ball.
Tornetta’s laser nearly found the cage in spite of Kennedy’s block attempt, but it was missing a final touch to complete the finish and send the ball past the goal line.
“I think defense wins games and defense wins championships,” Meharg said. “If you can keep a team scoreless then you will win championships. We have work to do.”
The Terps will continue the Big Ten/ACC Cup on Sunday with a match against No. 12 Duke at 2 p.m. Duke got shutout by Northwestern in their first game of the tournament.
