The Maryland field hockey team is headed to the Big Ten tournament, which starts Thursday.
They are scheduled to take on No. 7 Iowa at 2 p.m. And, they are the host of this year’s tourney.
“I think they’re very connected physically and they’re tough,” Maryland head coach Missy Meharg said of her team. “They tackle well and they distribute well, and it’s a group that’s been together for quite some time.”
No. 7 Maryland played No. 17 Penn State on the road as its final game of the regular season on Friday. The Terrapins beat Penn State 4-2.
“It’s just been an incredible five years, and I just cannot believe it’s gone so fast but I’ve cherished every single moment here,” Penn State’s Phia Gladieux said.
Like a majority of college field hockey games, Gladieux was among former teammates, including, Emma DeBerdine, who is also a 2024 Paris Olympian.
Something both Gladieux and DeBerdine have in common is that they don’t waste any time contributing to their team’s success.
Penn State had a quick start. Julienne van Bekkum took a shot one minute into the game, but it was kicked away by Alyssa Klebasko.
Three minutes later, Maryland nabbed two penalty corners. DeBerdine inserted the ball to Hope Rose, who passed to Ella Gaitan. Gaitan sent the ball right past Penn State’s graduate student Lauren Delgato to make the score 1-0.
Penn State was able to fire off only one shot in the first quarter. They were struggling to connect on their passes.
The Nittany Lions earned their first corner with 10:26 left in the second quarter. Julienne Van Bekkum passed the ball to Gladieux. She tapped the ball into the circle and ripped it right into the cage to tie the game one apiece.
Her goal was her final Penn State goal in Happy Valley.
Maryland had a surge in the third quarter. Not even a minute into the quarter, the Terrapins went up 2-1 as Kylee Niswonger sent the ball to Annemijn Klijnhout. Klijnhout buried the ball past Delgato to get her second goal of the season.
Maci Bradford was on the end line by Delgato, where she sent the ball to Rose. Rose sent the ball to the top left corner of the cage with 11:30 left to make it 3-1.
With less than three minutes left, Maryland scored their fourth goal of the game as Gaitan passed the ball to Rose who sent it past Delgato.
“She’s so potent, and now she really can pull marks, and she can execute very well, and she can finish,” Meharg said about Rose. “And the goalie actually had a couple of really nice saves against her, too. So I want to applaud the goalkeeper, but, yeah, she’s a special player.”
Jumping into the fourth quarter, Klebasko made a huge save on Natalie Freeman, who was looking to cut the deficit with 10:45 to go.
Sophia Mannino scored with 55 seconds remaining in the game. She took the ball from the center of the field into the circle and sent a shot to the bottom right of the net.
The Terrapins won 4-2 and ended the regular season 12-5. The Nittany Lions fall to 8-9 and head into the offseason.
“There’s a history with Maryland,” Coach Lisa Bervinchak Love said. “It is always a great game with another skilled team. So it’s just really a matter of us taking care of our business. We just talked about keeping possession, trying to capitalize on our counter attack opportunities but there’s a lot of respect.”
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