Coach Missy Meharg gives instructions to forward Alyssa Parker on the sideline during the Terps’ 5-2 win against New Hampshire on Sep. 19, 2015.
When the Terrapins field hockey team steps onto the field at Ohio State on Friday afternoon, it will mark the team’s first of five straight road games. After playing seven consecutive contests at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex, the Terps play six of their final eight regular-season games away from home.
But coach Missy Meharg is confident her team’s progress in recent weeks will translate to success away from the Terps’ home turf when they face the Buckeyes before traveling to Miami of Ohio on Sunday.
“We’re coming into a place where we’ve got a lot of people playing much better and making better choices,” Meharg said. “We’ve got depth in areas we didn’t have three, four weeks ago.”
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In Meharg’s 28 seasons with the program, the No. 8 Terps have a combined 9-0 record against the Buckeyes and RedHawks. If the Terps defeat both programs this weekend, Meharg would become the fourth coach in NCAA Division I field hockey history to earn 500 wins.
The Terps (8-3, 3-0 Big Ten) kick off their road slate against an Ohio State team they beat twice in 2014 — a 6-0 win in the regular-season matchup in College Park and a 5-0 victory in their opening game of the Big Ten tournament.
But none of the current Terps has ever played in Columbus, Ohio. And Meharg hasn’t coached at the Buckeye Varsity Field, which opened in 2010, because the Terps haven’t traveled to Ohio State (6-3, 2-0) since 2005.
Still, Meharg has a detailed history with one member of the Buckeyes’ sideline. Her best friend from college, Anne Wilkinson, is Ohio State’s head coach. The duo lived together and played field hockey and lacrosse for Delaware during the 1980s.
Before Wilkinson took over at Ohio State in 1996, she coached at American for eight seasons. She’s still searching for her first victory over Meharg.
This year, the meeting features two of the three Big Ten teams still undefeated in conference play.
“It’s always tough to have your best friend on the other side of the 50[-yard line],” Wilkinson said. “But once we’re coaching, and this is our profession. … Once the game is over, we’re friends.”
The Terps won’t have the same familiarity with Sunday’s opponent.
While the Terps have squared off against Miami of Ohio (6-5) in each of the past two seasons, outscoring the RedHawks 9-1 across both contests, the program has never traveled to Oxford, Ohio.
The Terps hope the momentum from their current six-game winning streak keeps their undefeated record against the Buckeyes and RedHawks in tact.
“We had a lot of surprises to this year that are now turning into wonderful surprises,” Meharg said. “Everything seems to be moving towards the way that I’m a little more comfortable coaching, which is just sit back and know that we’ve prepared well enough.”
