A win would’ve earned the Terps a share of the conference regular season title, but instead they were locked into the No. 3 seed.
An upset of No. 1 Northwestern on Thursday would’ve clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season title for No. 7 Maryland field hockey, but the Wildcats relied on two unlikely sources to thwart the Terps.
Lindsey Frank and Alia Marshall, two Wildcats who combined for a single goal entering the match, both scored in the first quarter to pace Northwestern in a 5-1 home victory.
With the win, Northwestern (16-1) finished the regular season undefeated in Big Ten play for the first time in program history. Maryland will be the No. 3 seed in this year’s Big Ten Tournament, playing the the No. 6 seed — likely Iowa or Penn State — in the first round next week.
Maryland (14-4) had scored first in 15 of its 17 games this season, but Frank beat the Terps to the punch Thursday. Midway through the first quarter, Northwestern senior Lauren Wadas worked into the paint, drawing two Terps defenders while yelling as if she had been fouled. As Maryland backed off of Wadas, Frank took advantage by picking up the loose ball and deflecting a shot off Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko for a goal.
Just over four minutes later, Marshall doubled Northwestern’s lead. She dribbled into the shooting circle herself, forcing Klebasko out of the net. She then chipped the ball into the corner.
The two first-quarter goals were the most Klebasko had allowed in any frame since Oct. 1.
Early in the second quarter, Northwestern furthered its lead when graduate forward Peyton Halsey scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season on a rebound.
Maryland began its comeback effort with 11 minutes left in the half with a goal from freshman Maci Bradford. Bradford inserted a corner and ran toward the left post to prepare for a Josie Hollamon shot. As Hollamon fired, Bradford tipped the shot for her ninth goal of the season.
Unfortunately for the Terps, that goal was one of the only positives to come out of a dismal first half.
“We got buried,” Maryland head coach Missy Meharg said at halftime. “It was a matter of stepping up, even in different levels of the field.”
Northwestern quickly reclaimed its three-goal cushion out of the break on its sixth corner of the game when freshman Ilse Tromp fired in her sixth goal of the season.
After the goal was allowed, junior goalkeeper Paige Kieft relieved Klebasko for the first time in eight games. Kieft allowed one goal, scored by Regan Cornelius early in the fourth quarter.
Three things to know
1. A dominant showing from Northwestern. Northwestern became the first Big Ten team to score at least five goals against the Terps. Maryland had only allowed four goals in the past four games combined before Thursday.
2. The Terps started slow. For the first time since Sept. 30 of last year, Maryland failed to register a first-quarter shot.
3. Maryland took a rare multi-goal loss. The Terps fell to the Wildcats for the 14th time in program history, but Northwestern hadn’t beat Maryland by multiple goals before Thursday.