When Maryland field hockey coach Missy Meharg was beginning to review video of undefeated No. 1 Connecticut early in the week before the two squads met Sunday, one number stood out to her.
“Twenty-six,” Meharg said. “I don’t have a roster in front of me.”
Meharg had spotted the nation’s leading scorer. By game day, the Terps learned her name: Charlotte Veitner, the Huskies’ junior forward.
But Veitner was a non-factor in Sunday’s game. Terps defender Courtney Deena led a defensive effort that prevented Veitner from scoring in the Terps’ 2-1 win.
“I didn’t want her to get any types of steps or any touches in the circle,” Deena said. “Just coming out and being more aggressive than I have in games past because I knew she is their top scorer.”
The Huskies brought an impressive resume into to College Park. They were the last undefeated team in the country, combining the nation’s most prolific offense with the second-ranked defense to secure the largest scoring margin in the nation.
Veitner entered the weekend averaging 1.47 goals and 3.80 points per game, both tops in the country and categories she led as a sophomore. Meharg said some of her strength comes from a unique German playing style.
“A lot of the women who have played field hockey in Germany have a [different] way of pulling the ball and stick position,” Meharg said Thursday. “We’ll take a look at that.”
The team studied Veitner’s game on video in preparation for Sunday’s contest, but Meharg said it still took Deena and the defense some time to adjust on the field.
“In the first opening minutes [Veitner] kind of tooled [Deena] a little bit,” Meharg said. “Until you’re out there and you feel it, it’s hard to feel it out.”
In the fifth minute, she earned a penalty corner while trying to receive a pass with defender Grace Balsdon blanketing her. On the ensuing set piece, Veitner tallied her 47th-career assist to set a program record.
That would be the Huskies’ only goal of the game, though, as the Terps defense buckled down after a slow start.
“I just knew that for the next time, I had to stay higher than her so that if she did get the ball, I was still a step close to either tackle or interception,” Deena said.
Deena spent the majority of the day shadowing Veitner as she probed the Terps backline.
“She takes one-on-ones very personally,” Meharg said.
But for Deena, this matchup was especially intense.
Deena saw Veitner’s stats. Veitner had 79 career goals and 11 career hat tricks. Against No. 9 Virginia on Sept. 18, she scored six times.
“I see those as challenges. They’re fun things,” Deena said. “When you’re paired with someone that has such stats, you almost see it as like, ‘I have to take this.'”
The Pickerington, Ohio, native, along with her fellow defenders and goalkeeper Sarah Bates, shut down Veitner, who took five shots and put two on goal. They were her lowest totals since Sept. 30.
“It’s always nice when you keep a top goal scorer to none, because that’s a goal,” Deena said. “So I’m glad she didn’t get any against us.”
