After dominating play from the start in a 5-1 win over California on Saturday, the No. 7 Maryland field hockey team struggled at times in Sunday’s game against American.
The Eagles created early chances. Defensively, they held the Terps to two goals in the first half.
Still, coach Missy Meharg’s bunch was able to take control of the game in the second half en route to a 6-2 win at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
“We made a few adjustments at halftime, and I think the girls took those adjustments and ran with it,” forward Welma Luus said. “We did everything we talked about at halftime and picked it up in the second half.”
Despite not doing everything they wanted in the first half, the Terps (4-2) led 2-0 at the break.
Midfielder Linnea Gonzales put her team on the board the 13th minute, beating American goalkeeper Maura Jacobs with a well-struck shot from the left of goal to make it 1-0.
But after going down a score, the Eagles seemed closer to equalizing the game than the Terps were to extending their lead. About a minute after the goal, Terps goalkeeper Sarah Holliday made a save but couldn’t control the rebound, which ended up on the stick of American forward Leah DiGiandomenico.
While DiGiandomenico’s shot got past Holliday and rolled all the way across the goalmouth, it was up just wide, drawing cheers and then groans from the American bench.
“American plays the fastest hockey of any team that we’ve played this year,” Meharg said. “They have huge wills and they imposed [them] on us. We were fortunate to [have] some really good shot selections and great finishes.”
The Eagles took the game’s next two shots but couldn’t find the net, and the Terps doubled their lead in the 25th minute. Luus took a hard shot that was saved but earned a penalty corner.
Forward Grace Balsdon scored off of that penalty corner to put the Terps up 2-0, a scoreline that would hold up until halftime. It could have been a larger lead if not for the efforts of Jacobs, who made a few huge saves, including one on a penalty stroke from Balsdon.
Maryland faced much less resistance in the early stages of the second half, and Gonzales took advantage with a goal and an assist in the period’s first 15 minutes. In the 50th minute, Luus scored to make it 4-0.
The sophomore’s assist came on a spectacular effort from Luus, who raised her stick above her head to deflect in Gonzales’ shot that was headed high and off target.
Check out the score of the day when Welma Luus got her stick on Linnea Gonzales’ shot! #FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/k1yBGvX7We
— Terps Field Hockey (@TerpFieldHockey) September 12, 2016
“I saw it flying high and got my stick up and got a touch on it,” Luus said. “I kind of felt it was going in off my stick, but I wouldn’t say that it was 100% planned.”
Gonzales’ goal, meanwhile, came as the result of a penalty corner. It was the second of three penalty corner goals for the Terps, showing improvement in an area Meharg said she wasn’t always happy with in the early part of the season.
“[Associate head coach Joppe de Vries] has been with the women, just breaking it down. …We’ve really been detailed,” Meharg said. “When you work on it, it’s amazing what happens.”
The Eagles also took advantage of corners, scoring off of a pair of them in the middle stages of the second half and cut the lead to 4-2 with about 11 minutes to go. But forward Sophie Pelzer ended any hopes of a comeback effort with a goal in the 65th minute. Balsdon scored the Terps’ sixth goal of the day as the final buzzer sounded to cap the team’s third straight victory.
“It was a really good second half for us,” midfielder Lein Holsboer said. “We came back strong and found each other really well.”
