Defender Kasey Tapman looks to clear the ball during the Terps’ 6-2 win over St. Joseph’s at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex on August 30, 2015.
Seventy minutes stood between the Terrapins field hockey team and a Final Four appearance in front of their home fans.
Coach Missy Meharg’s squad had dominated Princeton, 5-1, in its opening match of the NCAA tournament. Albany, which had never won an NCAA tournament game before 2014, was left in the way of the Terps’ seventh-straight Final Four appearance.
But Meharg said her players couldn’t completely turn their attention away from the signs, banners and hype surrounding the sport’s championship weekend.
“It was as if that game was done before we played,” Meharg said.
The lapse in focus resulted in a 2-1 loss to Albany, relegating the Terps to the bleachers while their rivals battled for the crown on their home turf.
Ten months later, the No. 8 Terps (2-2) vow to not overlook No. 7 Albany (3-0) when it comes to College Park on Friday afternoon for the Terrapin Invitational. Coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since 2002 has only added to their hunger.
“You don’t want to say it’s just a game,” Meharg said of the rematch with the Great Danes. “You’ve got to prepare to win, and on that given day, I don’t feel the team was prepared to win. I’m confident Friday we’ll be prepared to win.”
Last weekend, the Terps learned where they needed to improve after overtime defeats against No. 4 Duke and No. 10 Boston College. Their first chance to resolve those shortcomings comes against the Albany team they failed to generate consistent offense against in the quarterfinals. The Terps also face American (3-1) on Sunday for their second outing of the tournament.
Forward Welma Luus was the only Terp to score against the Great Danes last year. After she cut the Terps’ deficit to 2-1 with less than seven minutes to play, the team had several looks in the waning minutes. They couldn’t capitalize, though, finishing the day shooting 1-for-11.
“You shoot [six] times in the second half and can’t find the net, and then their goalie is in a nirvana experience,” Meharg said. “You know that that’s going to be the [result].”
This week in practice, the Terps offense has worked on finishing its shots. In two games against the Eagles and Blue Devils, the Terps connected on three of their 32 attempts.
“We have great spurts of play,” Luus said. “We just need to get it consistent throughout the whole game.”
While the offense looks to regain its form, the Terps defense faces a steep task this week, too. Albany midfielder Paula Heuser, the reigning National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Player of the Year, has scored five of the Great Danes’ seven goals this season.
After breakdowns last weekend, defender Kasey Tapman wants to improve her unit’s organization when retreating after changes of possession.
“Just communication across the board will help us out in the end,” Tapman said.
The end for the Terps last time they faced the Great Danes was a silent, emotional locker room in the wake of their rare quarterfinal elimination. Now, the Terps are again in an unfamiliar spot because no player had previously dropped two games in a row during her time in College Park.
Meharg, however, has a feeling her team won’t let Albany push the streak to three.
“Well, how’d we do the next game?” Meharg asked facetiously about the program’s last two-game losing streak in 2002. “There you go.”
The next game, the Terps punished James Madison, 7-0.
