By Gill Vesely
Maryland field hockey head coach Missy Meharg used her whole bench Sunday in a 5-1 Terps win over Michigan State University. The win marked the team’s sixth consecutive win and third victory in the Big Ten, and saw a plethora of different Terps find the back of the net.
The game started on a high note for the Terps when forward Welma Luus, fresh off a two-goal performance against Michigan on Friday, scored the first goal of the contest. The score, which came less than two minutes into the game, was tapped in quickly by Luus from the right post after Michigan State goalie Sierra Patton left the net to defend a shot on the opposite side of the goal.
“She always comes out with so much energy, and you just never know what she’s going to do,” teammate Linnea Gonzales said of Luus. “She’s just always going to try to put it in the goal, so I definitely think that helps us and inspires us to bring our energy up to her level.”
The next Maryland goal came off a penalty corner sent by Anna Dessoye, set by Emma Rissinger, and finished by Gonzales. Gonzales wasted no time clanking the ball into the back of the cage once Rissinger stopped it for her near the top of the circle. After the goal, Michigan State replaced Patton in the cage with sophomore Katie Miller.
Carrie Hanks was the next Terp to get on the board, scoring her second goal of the season off another corner, this one assisted by Dessoye and Floor Paanakker. Less than a minute later, Gonzales scored again with a shot from the left side of the circle to put the Terps up 4-0.
Brooke Adler would tack on yet another goal for Maryland, getting her first score of the season with under seven minutes to play in the half off a rebounded penalty corner. The Terps were scoreless after the half, but held the Spartans to just one goal, completed by Shelby Supica off a rebound.
“We just kept the communication up and stuck together,” co-captain Kasey Tapman said of the defensive unit. “We were all looking at each other and nodding and saying ‘Hey, we got this.’”
With a five-game road stretch coming up for Maryland, Meharg talked about what she’s looking forward to as the Terps face both conference and non-conference opponents away from their home turf.
“The excitement is the opportunity to keep growing,” she said. “They’re starting to really get a sense of what our ceiling is, and that’s really exciting. We saw some of it today.”
“It’s a great brand,” she continued, describing the way Maryland has played lately. “It’s wicked athletic, it’s wicked fast, and it’s fiery, and it makes people want to sit in the stands longer. That’s what we’re up to do, is just keep growing Maryland hockey.” Meharg, who with the victory notched her 498th career win, said she’s especially looking forward to the Terps’ next opponent, Ohio State. The two teams will face each other at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Columbus.
