After No. 6 Maryland field hockey’s 4-2 win at No. 15 Iowa on Friday, coach Missy Meharg was happy with the result but didn’t feel her team played its best.
The Terps started slow and had some defensive lapses, which also occurred in their 3-2 loss to Northwestern two days later.
The Hawkeyes and Wildcats took early leads against the Terps. Iowa forward Natalie Cafone scored in the 11th minute, and Northwestern forward Pascale Massey found the net in just the second minute.
Meharg said she hopes her team can look back at this weekend and prevent any similar problems going forward.
“If you look at the two games this weekend, we didn’t play our brand of hockey that we want to play and that we’re used to playing,” forward Welma Luus said.
Lethargic starts aren’t always an issue for the team, however. Even though Meharg thought her squad started slow in its 2-1 win over No. 13 Princeton last Tuesday, they got on the board in the first two minutes of the game.
“It’s about being ready,” Meharg said. “The last two or three games, we’ve been pretty slow to start and had goals scored early on us.”
They also scored within the first three minutes in a 4-1 loss to Syracuse on Aug. 28. The 29-year head coach was even happier with her team’s start of its 4-1 win against Indiana last Saturday.
“Against Indiana, we stepped on the field ready and we played how we want to,” Meharg said.
But this weekend, the Terps (7-3, 2-1 Big Ten) couldn’t find an early spark.
They trailed against Iowa (6-4, 0-3) after a long pass from the Terps’ attacking circle went to Cafone at midfield. There were a couple of Maryland defenders near her, but none could keep pace. Her shot beat goalkeeper Sarah Holliday, who came charging out of the net.
“We were just disorganized,” Meharg said. “We let there be chaos. We have to fill the gaps.”
For the rest of that game, the Terps fixed their defense en route to the win. But against Northwestern (8-2, 3-0), defensive issues continued in the back-and-forth affair, allowing the Wildcats to come out on top.
In the 53rd minute, midfielder Lein Holsboer rolled a short pass toward midfielder Brooke Adler. The junior didn’t see Wildcats midfielder Isabel Flens running upfield into the ball’s path.
Flens picked it off, turned around and sprinted down the field on the counterattack. She dished it to midfielder Saar de Breij who had a one-on-one with Holliday. De Breij scored to take a 2-1 lead.
“We kept trying, and everyone really wanted to come back, but it wasn’t in the books for today,” Luus said.
Then with the game tied 2-2 seven minutes later, defender Grace Balsdon passed the ball across the top of the circle to defender Courtney Deena. The senior couldn’t handle the pass, and Wildcats forward Pascale Massey stole possession.
Massey carried the ball toward goal and met Holliday at the post, where she jammed the ball into the net for the game-winning goal.
“The goals were on Maryland errors in the back third,” Meharg said. “We need to take care of the ball taking it out.”
The Terps almost matched Northwestern statistically, only being out-shot, 10-9, and earning one more penalty corner than the Wildcats. They tied the game twice in the final 25 minutes and had a chance to send it to overtime on a penalty corner with no time remaining.
But Northwestern’s three goals — one as the Terps struggled in the early stages, and two on passing miscues — were enough to snap the team’s six-game win streak.
“It was kind of a tough day for us, we didn’t play our best hockey as a team,” Luus said. “And I think individually, too, it was tough on us.”
