Senior Sarah Sprink celebrates right after scoring a goal for the Terps during the University of Maryland vs. Temple University game on Sunday at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex in College Park, MD.

Before the Terrapins field hockey team headed west to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for its first-ever Big Ten tournament, coach Missy Meharg said she couldn’t remember a time during her 27-year coaching career she had played a game at 10 a.m.

So Thursday morning’s bout with No. 8-seed Ohio State provided a first for both Meharg and the players. Earlier in the week, the players said the unfamiliar time slot wouldn’t pose a problem because they would be excited to take the field in the postseason.

And when the Terps woke up at 6:30 a.m. in their hotel room, they were as eager as they expected.

“It actually concerned me a little bit because I thought we were a bit revved up for 6:30 in the morning,” Meharg said

But Meharg’s concerns proved unfounded as the No. 1-seed Terps translated the energy into a dominant performance with a 5-0 win over the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals. The Terps will play No. 4-seed Penn State at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

A day after the Big Ten announced defender Sarah Sprink as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, she anchored the backline and helped hold the Buckeyes to seven shots en route to a combined shutout by goalkeepers Brooke Cabrera and Jill Genovese.

“[I’m] just really impressed with the flexibility of our backfield,” Meharg said. “Sarah Sprink, Kasey Tapman, Rachel [Frusher]and Steffi [Schneid] did a great job of reshaping.”

The stout defense allowed the Terps to apply pressure throughout the opening period. The Terps earned five penalty corners in the first half and two resulted in goals.

Midway through the half, forward Moira Putsch inserted the ball to Sprink on a corner and the junior captain ripped a shot that was headed wide right but deflected off a defender into the back of the net to give the Terps a one-goal lead.

Sprink wasn’t done. After a Buckeyes defender prevented a goal on a corner with her foot, the Terps earned a penalty stroke. Sprink lined up career and ripped a shot past goalkeeper Liz Tamburro for a penalty stroke goal.

Tamburro had a career day in a 6-0 loss to the Terps on Oct. 3 in which she made 15 saves, but she couldn’t replicate that performance in the rematch. The freshman made one stop in the first half and the second half didn’t prove much better for her.

The Terps offense erupted early in the final period to tally three goals in less than six-minute span.

“We were able to string some goals together, which is very exciting,” Meharg said.

First it was midfielder Carrie Hanks, who was playing in her first postseason game. After Putsch gathered a rebound off a corner, she sent a ball back toward the center of the goal where Hanks was able to redirect it past Tamburro.

Midfielder Anna Dessoye quickly added another when she corralled a bouncing ball in the center of the circle from Sprink. She turned and fired it into the back of the cage to extend the lead to four goals.

And 62 seconds later, the Terps added another off the stick of forward Katie Gerzabek. Midfielder Lein Holsboer forced a turnover in the Buckeyes’ end and sent the ball ahead to Gerzabek. The senior captain took the ball left and cracked a backhanded shot to the far post.

Gerzabek’s goal capped another high-scoring game for the Terps, which proved an early start time isn’t enough to slow the Terps, who extended their winning streak to 12 games.

“[I’m] just happy to have our first win in our first Big Ten tournament,” Meharg said.