In just five minutes, the Terrapin field hockey team turned a scoreless outing against Michigan into a highlight reel of attacking prowess.
The No. 1 Terps (5-0) rose above a mediocre first-half performance with a second-half scoring spree to trounce the No. 19 Wolverines 4-1 in Sunday’s home opener.
“I think you have to grade it first and second half,” said forward Katie O’Donnell said. “Our first half was obviously not as good as our second half … But I would say that our second half would be good enough to get us into the Final Four.”
After missing the mark with their first 17 shots, the team finally broke through in the game’s 49th minute. O’Donnell grabbed a rebounded shot and flipped a pass in front of the goal to senior forward Nicole Muracco, who tapped the ball into the cage amidst the scramble.
That set off the Terp offense, which converted four consecutive shots in a five-minute stretch.
Three minutes after the first goal, senior midfield/back Ameliet Rischen rocketed the ball into the cage from outside the circle.
Just 60 seconds after that, O’Donnell dribbled downfield on a breakaway. Just when it appeared she had gone too far and the ball would cross the end line without a shot attempt, the team captain dove and took a backhand swing with her stick to send the ball into the far corner of the net.
O’Donnell capped the team’s scoring 45 seconds later with another breakaway goal from the opposite side.
“She’s a believer,” coach Missy Meharg said. “She competes from her heart and right from her belly, and those goals are a tribute to that.”
O’Donnell leads the team with 21 points, three times the total of any other player, boosted not only by her goals against Michigan but by her hat trick at No. 16 Old Dominion on Friday. Though the Terps fell behind just 19 seconds into that game, O’Donnell and the attack propelled the team to a 6-3 victory.
But the displays put on by the offense against the Lady Monarchs and in the second half against the Wolverines were the complete opposite of the Terps’ play in the first 35 minutes on Sunday.
The defense held strong throughout the match, allowing just seven shot opportunities and one goal. But though the attack controlled the ball in Michigan territory for most of the game, in the first half the Terps struggled to finish their offensive possessions.
The Michigan backfield, which earlier this season held No. 4 North Carolina and No. 2 Wake Forest to three goals combined, shut down the Terps, swarming every time they moved inside the arc. Goalie Paige Pickett got seven blocks in the first half and allowed no goals.
Frustrated by the zero on the scoreboard at halftime, the Terps reset and refocused their play after the intermission.
“We just realized we had a whole new game, a whole second game pretty much,” Rischen said. “We just had to step up our game.”
kyanchulis@umdbk.com
