By: Connor Bell
In their third and final game of their road trip, the No. 6 Terps Field Hockey team fell to No. 11 Northwestern, 3-2 in the final minutes of the match.
It did not take long for the Wildcats to take advantage of the home field, and they struck early with just a minute and 42 seconds off of the clock to take a 1-0 lead. The first half was a defensive battle the rest of the way with both teams getting less than five shots off in the half. Northwestern looked for a mismatch versus the Terps from the start as they used a total of 21 substitutions in the first half, but the teams still went into the locker room at half with the one early goal separating them.
Maryland’s offense came out firing in the second half, however, with two quick shots in the 36th minute that were blocked and saved by the Northwestern defense and goalie Lindsay von der Luft. Finally, Maryland broke through the Wildcats’ defense in the 45th minute as Emma Rissinger scored her fourth goal of the year to tie the game at one.
From here on out, the game went into a back and forth between the two teams in the final 18 minutes of the match. A total of three goals were scored in those 18 minutes, specifically in a seven-minute stretch between the 52nd and the 59th minute. Between these minutes, Northwestern and Maryland traded goals again to make it a 2-2 game with about 15 minutes left to play. Wilma Luus nabbed her eighth goal of the season, the second most on the team.
Then after only five minutes after the Terps had even things up, Northwestern ended up scoring the goal that would lift them over the talented Terps team. Pascale Massey fought for a goal close to the right post and ended up jamming the ball through to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead and eventual victory over the #6 Terps.
This loss makes the Terps fall to (7-3) on the year and (2-1) in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, the 11th ranked Wildcats will surely rise in the polls as they improve to (8-2) on the season and a perfect (3-0) in Big Ten play. The Terps next game will finally bring them home to play Michigan this Friday at 6:00 p.m.
