The Terrapins field hockey team endured more than an hour-long weather delay and about a 65-minute scoring drought, but coach Missy Meharg’s squad couldn’t overcome Boston College’s attack in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Friday evening.
The No. 3 Terps suffered their first loss of the season, falling to the No. 13 Eagles, 3-2, in overtime at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in the opening game of this weekend’s Big Ten/ACC Cup.
“[We] started out strong, played very good hockey, and [Boston College] really stepped up their game, and that was problematic,” Meharg said. “We have some things to work on.”
Forward Emma Rissinger and midfielder Faye Curran both scored for the Terps, who outshot Boston College, 14-12. Eagles forward AshLeigh Sebia’s two goals, including the game-winner, proved to be too much for the Terps to handle, though.
Rissinger struck first for the Terps with a hard shot from the right side less than three minutes into the contest for the only goal of the period.
By the break, six different Terps had registered seven shots (three on goal) from six players. The Terps came out of the locker room firing again on offense and earned a corner attempt 1 minute and 24 seconds into the action.
Boston College goalkeeper Leah Settipane blocked forward Linnea Gonzales’ shot, though, and the Terps’ attack went cold. The Terps didn’t record another shot until Settipane saved Curran’s attempt about 19 minutes later.
In that span, the Eagles built a two-goal lead to put the Terps in their first deficit of the season.
Eagles midfielder Romee Stiekema struck off a penalty corner about eight minutes into the period.
Less than five minutes later, Terps defender Kasey Tapman drew a yellow card that forced the Terps to play short-handed for five minutes. In the ensuing corner shot, Sebia knocked in the rebound to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
“From what I had seen on footage…they took their game to another level and that’s a compliment, I guess, to Maryland,” Meharg said.
With 11:21 to play, the game went into delay for an hour and 17 minutes because of thunder and lightning in the area.
But the Terps returned energized from the break, and Curran netted the equalizer on a corner shot with assists from Rissinger and midfielder Anna Dessoye with 4:22 remaining.
The newcomer’s third goal of the season sent the game into overtime where Sebia’s second score of the match pushed the Eagles past the Terps.
“It’s really nice this time in the season, though, to be able to go into overtime,” Meharg said of the program’s first extended game since Nov. 8, 2013. “Having experienced that is a lot, especially for our freshmen players.”
The Terps return to the field Sunday afternoon to face No. 5 Duke in the closing game of this weekend’s tournament.
