Twice in the first half, the No. 6 Maryland field hockey team scored to take a lead over No. 5 Penn State. Twice, Penn State responded to tie the game.
The Terps took another lead early in the second half, the first of three straight goals before the Nittany Lions could score again. Penn State got within a goal, but Maryland held on for a 5-4 win to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title.
“Obviously we knew the game was going to be a really tough match considering we’re near each other in the rankings,” defender Grace Balsdon said. “When we moved the ball around, the Penn State girls really couldn’t handle it.”
Despite being separated by one spot in the polls and entering the weekend tied at the top of the Big Ten, the Terps seemed as though they were going to cruise to a victory over the Nittany Lions.
Balsdon scored on a penalty stroke to give her team a three-goal lead, and Penn State had taken just four shots in the second half to that point.
“We were up 5-2 and you think you can hold the field,” coach Missy Meharg said. “But we had people get really tired, we made some mistakes, and, oops, all of a sudden they’re back in the game.”
The Nittany Lions scored twice in less than two minutes to come within a goal with six minutes left, but the Terps held on. Penn State didn’t take another shot after cutting the lead to one.
“It’s about being smart and managing those last few minutes that could go against us,” Balsdon said. “We just really starting thinking game management and take it as far away from our goal as possible.”
Penn State had already proven itself capable of coming from behind. Against Iowa on Sept. 16, they trailed 3-0 before scoring four goals to win, 4-3. When the Terps earned a pair of one-goal leads in the first half Sunday, the Nittany Lions quickly found equalizers.
“That’s just the energy of anything, isn’t it? It’s yin and yang,” Meharg said. “If you scored a goal you better control it. And if you don’t, you’re going to get that against you.”
Forward Welma Luus opened the scoring less than three minutes after the opening whistle. Balsdon hit the ball hard toward the circle, and it deflected off midfielder Linnea Gonzales’ stick just before it got there.
That redirected the ball to Luus, who battled her defender to knock the ball out of the air in the middle of the circle. She immediately took a shot, beating the goalkeeper with a bouncing attempt to the bottom corner of the goal.
Penn State tied it up a little over a minute later when Nittany Lions midfielder Aurelia Meijer passed to teammate Brooke Birosik close to the net. Her one timer got past goalkeeper Sarah Holliday.
“That came from us being disorganized and not intense enough,” Meharg said. “They took a quick free hit and the kid knocked it between Sarah Holliday’s legs.”
Maryland recaptured its lead in the 16th minute. Forward Emma Rissinger forced a turnover deep in Penn State territory and was taken down in the circle, earning the Terps their first corner of the game.
Balsdon took a shot off that corner that Penn State goalkeeper Jenna Rizzo saved, and she also saved forward Madison Maguire’s rebound attempt. But when the ball went back to Maguire again, her second effort found the backboard. Penn State answered back with a goal in the 27th minute.
Coming out of haltime tied 2-2, forward Kelee Lepage got the Terps back on top quickly in the second half. She scored in the 42nd minute after receiving a pass from Luus at the post and sneaking it past Rizzo at point-blank range.
“I’m all about the first and last two minutes,” Meharg said. “First and last minutes of the first and second half, first minutes after scoring goals.”
After Luus’ score in the second minute of the game, Penn State owned the next two minutes and Birosik capitalized by equalizing less than two minutes later. After Lepage’s score, though, the Terps flipped the script.
Luus doubled Maryland’s lead less than two minutes later after Lepage found the back of the net. Balsdon’s score came in the 59th minute and seemed to cement a Terps victory.
Penn State scored a pair of goals in the 63rd and 64th minutes, respectively, to get itself back into it. After that, though, Maryland tightened its defense and did a “great job of stalling,” Meharg said.
That helped the team earn a share of its third consecutive Big Ten title.
“We played our brand of hockey, even in the chaos,” Luus said.
