Maryland continued its streak of major second halves on Sunday in front of a packed crowd, with the help of Feliz Kunhe, who scored two goals less than two minutes apart in the fourth quarter.
The performance led the Terps to their second 4-0 win this weekend.
Unlike previous matches, the Terps came out hot offensively, scoring on their first shot on a corner just over five minutes into the game.
Francisca Eschoyez notched her team-leading ninth goal of the season on the corner, with Maci Bradford and Ella Beach picking up the assists to give the Terps an early 1-0 lead over the Buckeyes.
The Terps continued their offensive momentum with Babs Van Hest scoring her eighth goal of the season on a shot just inside the circle on the left on Maryland’s second shot of the game.
Even with the early goals, it wasn’t the Terps best game of hockey this season.
“I feel like we just settled. I don’t think we played great hockey the minute we scored those goals, especially in the second quarter. That was just completely lull,” said Meharg
The Terps were held to one shot in the third quarter, with no corners and very little offensive action.
Maryland has not scored a goal in the third quarter in six of their 14 games, with the most recent occurrence coming against Princeton on September 19th.
Even with the lack of offensive action in the second half, Maryland performed extremely well on corners Sunday afternoon, finishing two for three with one goal in the first and one in the fourth.
“At training we actually worked a lot on that one, and we were hitting them, so I guess it’s about practicing it, and showing the faith, and it’s all gonna fall for you,” said Meharg on the successful corners during the game.
Corners have been a problem for the Terps throughout the season, even going 0 for 11 on Friday against Michigan State and only converting on eight of their 91 penalty corners so far this season.
Heading into Sunday’s matchup, Maryland was on a three-game losing streak against the Buckeyes, with its most recent loss coming last season in the Big Ten Tournament.
This year, however, the Terps have left that season behind.
“Every time we step into the locker room, the energy is always up really high; we really love each other… we just want to keep this going,” said goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko post-game.
With high energy, Maryland hopes to continue its undefeated season through the rest of its Big Ten play as its biggest game nears.
Maryland is scheduled to play No. 2 Northwestern on Thursday in Evanston, Illinois.
“I know that we play a very different brand from that… we are really fluid and really attacking, and the ball touches all over the field. I think they’re a bit more programmed unit play, which I think will be our advantage.” Meharg said.
