The Maryland field hockey team had the chance it needed. Trailing 3-2 with less than a minute to play against Northwestern, the referees awarded the Terps penalty corner. Defender Grace Balsdon took a shot high and to the right, but Wildcats goalkeeper Lindsay von der Luft made a jumping save to end the game.
The Terps (7-3, 2-1) walked off the field as Northwestern (8-3, 3-0) mobbed their keeper in front of goal. It snapped a six-game win and marked the team’s first conference loss.
Northwestern wasted little time taking a 1-0 lead. Midfielder Isabel Flens won the ball in the midfield with a lot of green in front of her and not many white Maryland jerseys.
She carried the ball all the way into the circle, and Terps goalkeeper Sarah Holliday charged out to meet her. Holliday was able to get a piece of the shot and knock it off target, but forward Pascale Massey was waiting behind Holliday. She tapped the ball into the open net to get Northwestern on the scoreboard.
That would be just about the best look at goal for either team in the first half. Terps forward Welma Luus swing and missed at a clear shot in the first few minutes, and midfielder Linnea Gonzales had a hard shot saved in the fifth minute of play.
In fact, both teams struggled to string passes together. Multiple times, the Terps couldn’t even make a pass off free hits or while entering the ball out of bounds.
The second half opened with much of the same, as both teams traded missed penalty corners early and couldn’t sustain any attack.
The Terps managed to tie it up in the 46th minute, though, which was the start of the intense back-and-forth action over the final 25 minutes.
Forward Emma Rissinger deflected in a hit from defender Carrie Hanks to make it 1-1, but the Wildcats retook the lead about eight minutes later. Again, Flens made a long run into the circle that sparked the goal. She managed to sneak a pass to midfielder Saar de Breij, who beat Holliday.
The Terps responded with a goal from Luus. She received a long pass from Balsdon and got around her defender before shooting past von der Luft.
But Northwestern answered again. In the 60th minute, Massey and Holliday met at the left post. The ball was wedged between Holliday’s leg and Massey’s stick, but Massey was able to force it past her for the eventual game winner.
Maryland tried to force the equalizer late, and their best chance was the penalty corner in the final minute. While Balsdon had scored in each of the last four games, but Luft elevated to keep her off the board and the Terps out of the win column.
