The Terps gear up for a two-game home slate.
This weekend marks the 24th year that Maryland field hockey will host the Terrapin Invitational in College Park. This year’s rendition will see the Terps host Virginia, Lock Haven and American.
Following a hard-fought loss to Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Cup, Maryland dropped one spot in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s poll to No. 5. But one bright spot from this past weekend for the Terps was forward Ella Gaitan, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after scoring the deciding goal — the first of her career — against then-No. 17 Boston College.
Maryland will play No. 3 Virginia on Friday at 7 p.m., before taking on Lock Haven on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both games will be available on Big Ten Plus.
Virginia (3-0, 1-0 ACC)
2023 record: 14-7 (3-3 ACC)
The Cavaliers enter their second season under head coach Ole Keusgen. Keusgen has been on Virginia’s staff since 2015. In his first season at the helm, Keusgen led the team on a surprise run to the Final Four, where it lost to eventual champions and ACC foe North Carolina.
The Cavaliers began the season ranked No. 3 and have done nothing so far to discredit it, having sandwiched a 7-0 shellacking of Temple in between away wins against then-No. 16 Penn State and then-No. 11 Liberty.
Players to know
Suze Leemans, graduate midfielder, No. 13 — Leemans comes to Virginia from the Netherlands, a mere seven miles away from the hometown of Maryland’s Annemijn Klijnhout. And while Leemans has only played three games in America, she has already made an immediate impact, scoring three goals this past weekend on her way to being named ACC Offensive Player of the Week.
Tyler Kennedy, senior goalkeeper, No. 24 — Kennedy made it an ACC award sweep for the Cavaliers this past weekend, winning ACC Defensive Player of the Week following a seven-save shutout against Temple and a six-save performance against Liberty. After posting a 70.5% save percentage last year, Kennedy appears to have stepped up her game, recording a 84.6% save percentage in 2024.
Strength
Road games. Last year, the Cavaliers went 9-2 in away games, recording four road wins against opponents ranked opponents in the top 11. Their only away losses came at then-No. 5 Louisville during the regular season and at then-No. 1 North Carolina in the Final Four.
Weakness
Penalty corner conversion. Virginia has won 21 penalty corners this season, yet it has scored on just one of them. With the strong defense Maryland has shown on penalty corners thus far, having conceded just one of 13, Virginia may continue to struggle on corners.
Lock Haven (1-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
2023 record: 5–12 (2-5 Atlanic 10)
Head coach Anna Rogers also enters her second season in charge of the program, having won five of 17 games with Lock Haven in her debut season last year. Rogers served as an assistant coach with the team from 2016 to 2022, and she looks to build up a program similarly to her predecessor, Pat Rudy, who coached Lock Haven for 27 seasons.
It has not been an easy start to the season for the Bald Eagles, who opened their season at home with heavy losses to Syracuse, 9-0, and Temple, 6-0. A 2-1 loss to Georgetown signaled promise, and Lock Haven ended their opening homestead with a dramatic 4-3 shootout victory over Colgate.
It will be a challenge for the Bald Eagles to come away with a win this weekend, but promising showings could massively boost morale within the team.
Players to know
Madison Friend, freshman forward, No. 1 — Friend looked incredibly impressive in her first two weekends with the Bald Eagles, playing at least 50 minutes in every game. Those efforts were rewarded in Lock Haven’s most recent game against Colgate, when Friend scored the first goal of her collegiate career.
Maja Halasz, senior goalkeeper, No. 52 — While her team has struggled as a whole, Halasz has stood out with some impressive performances. In 103 minutes of play, Halasz has conceded only six goals and made eight saves. Most notably, though, Halasz stopped three of four Colgate shootout efforts to help her team to its first win of the season.
Strength
Shots on goal conversion. Last year, the Bald Eagles boasted a 63.9% shots on goal percentage. This meant Lock Haven forced opposing goalkeepers to save the majority of the shots they took. And while it is a smaller sample size so far this year, Lock Haven has put 21-of-38 shots on goal for a shots on goal percentage of 55.3% and remain capable of challenging opposing goalkeepers.
Weakness
Defending. The Bald Eagles have allowed 20 goals over their first four games this season, including nine of which came in their season opener against Syracuse. Overall, Lock Haven has conceded multiple goals in every game so far this year, and the Terps will look to extend that streak.
Three things to know
1. Historic win on the line. Having gone 1-1 last weekend, Maryland now has a 799-251-36 all-time record. One win is needed this weekend to hit its 800th win, and it would be fitting if the Terps upset Virginia to do so.
2. Terrapin Invitational standard to uphold. Maryland will look to rebound after last Sunday’s tough loss against Duke, and the Terrapin Invitational may be the perfect opportunity to do so. The Terps have won their last 15 Terrapin Invitational games, including their most recent invitational game against Virginia, a 3-2 shootout win in 2019.
3. Vengeance against Virginia. The Terps were knocked out of the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament by Virginia in a disappointing 4-0 loss. That painted a peculiar pattern for Maryland. Despite winning three of its four regular season matchups with Virginia over the last 5 years, the Cavaliers have knocked the Terps out of the playoffs twice in that same timespan.