For the first time since 2004, the Terrapin field hockey team’s season this past year ended without a national championship trophy.
The No. 2-seeded Terps bowed out in the quarterfinals, snapping a streak of four straight final four appearances. The results were humbling for a team accustomed to such high levels of success.
“We really can keep in perspective the reality that … in order to win national championships, you’ve got to be at your best every second, and you’ve got to really be able to perform when the most pressure’s on,” coach Missy Meharg said. “I do believe there’s a little bit of pressure for this group. … I think it was challenging.”
Once again, the Terps face the pressure of expectations. The team enters the season ranked No. 2 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association preseason poll.
Considering the end of last season, the ranking is a testament to the respect for the program and the talent on the roster.
“I was a little surprised [by the ranking], because obviously we didn’t make it to the final four last year,” senior back Susie Rowe said. “I think coaches and opposition know that we didn’t live up to those expectations and that … we should have been in the final four. They’re aware that we are a threat; we’ve barely lost any players.”
With nine starters returning, the Terps are poised to validate the preseason hype and re-establish their dominance of the national landscape.
Offensively, the Terps’ top-three goal-scorers return to lead a vaunted attack. Sophomore Katie O’Donnell, a member of the U.S. Senior National Team, paced the team with 18 goals and 17 assists on her way to earning ACC Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman.
Rowe and junior 2006 All-American Nicole Muracco tied for the second-most goals on the team, each with 14 scores. The returnees help offset the loss of playmaking midfielder Janneke van Leeuwen, who had the second-most points on the team a year ago.
On defense, Rowe, a two-time All-American, anchors a backfield that last year ranked third in the nation in team goals against average. She’s joined by senior Mid-Atlantic All-Region second-teamer Ellen Ott, junior Brianna Davies and sophomore Amanda Himmelheber.
The defense will try to overcome the loss of three-time All-American goalkeeper Kathryn Masson. Junior Alicia Grater starts the year in goal for the Terps, but Meharg said the position is still subject to change. Backups redshirt freshman Melissa Vassalotti and freshman Brittany Dipper saw action in the team’s exhibition game and could push for playing time.
“I would say, at this time, that the job will go to Alicia simply on experience and maturity, but I’m not one to commit to a starting goalkeeper,” Meharg said. “I think for Alicia’s sake and Melissa’s sake and Brittany Dipper, it’s always good that everybody knows that the job is open.”
The Terps are breaking in a new formation this year. Rowe, who has traditionally played deep in the backfield, has moved up to have a chance with the ball in open space, while O’Donnell will be asked to come under the ball at midfield, a move that will take advantage of her strong defensive instincts, Meharg said.
O’Donnell said the team is comfortable running the system, which will be put to the test early. The team has engagements with No. 6 Penn State, which knocked the Terps out of the 2007 NCAA Tournament on Sept. 1 and No. 8 Old Dominion on Sept. 5.
These tests should help toughen the Terps. Last season, the team sprinted to a 16-0 start, then dropped three of its final five games.
“In the previous years, we’ve kind of had easy starts, but it’s always good to get that test early on so that you know what you’ve got to work on,” Rowe said. “Penn State will be a good test for us, more mentally rather than the actual hockey of it. Knowing that we can beat a team like that will prepare us to face similar opponents down the road.”
The Terps have the personnel and the experience to guide them back to Louisville, Ky., the home of the final four. It’s the same site where the team captured the title in 2005, spurring its recent run of success.
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