Maryland field hockey coach Missy Meharg looks forward to November all year.
“I always say, ‘November’s the month,'” Meharg said. “That’s what we do everything for.”
The first weekend of November features conference tournaments, and the NCAA tournament begins a week later. After finishing as Big Ten regular-season champions with a 15-3 record, the No. 3 Terps feel ready to begin Meharg’s favorite month.
“The physical sacrifices, we talk a lot about that,” Meharg said. “Back in February, we were in indoor, they were with their heart rate monitors and they were doing sprints facing a video camera. It’s really pretty interesting where they’ve come.”
The Terps celebrated Halloween on Monday by practicing in costume, and they prepared for the turn of the month by holding a meeting with mental performance coach Evan Brody.
“We talked about our strengths, and we didn’t actually focus on our weaknesses that much,” midfielder Lein Holsboer said. “We just wanted to keep it positive and work on opportunities rather than the weaknesses.”
Holsboer thought the discussion helped prepare the freshmen for their first taste of the postseason, which comes Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament against Rutgers.
Wednesday, though, the conference recognized some of the team’s most experienced players.
Holsboer made the All-Big Ten second team, while forward Welma Luus and defender Grace Balsdon won Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, respectively.
The team complimented the duo for their composure and leadership, but Meharg was also quick to spread the wealth.
“I’m so pleased for them … but I’m always hesitant when awards are given out because it could have a tendency to make others feel like they’re not good enough,” Meharg said. “And boy, the only reason that those two in particular are as good as they are is the team that’s playing with them.”
Balsdon, whose 12 goals this year have come off penalty corners, didn’t score in the team’s Big Ten-clinching victory over Rutgers on Saturday, but she picked up an assist with a no-look pass to defender Carrie Hanks on a corner.
Despite pulling out that trick, Meharg said her team held back some strategies because it knew it would play the Scarlet Knights again. She said her players are ready to combat Rutgers’ similar tactics.
“They can’t change their players,” Meharg said. “They can change their shapes and how much pressure they bring, but I think Maryland has done a good job adjusting to what people [do].”
At tournament time, Hanks said practices become less physical as the team focuses on tactics. Facing Rutgers in consecutive games made that easier, and the Terps will have home field advantage by hosting the Big Ten tournament for the first time.
“Whether it’s knowing that more of our fans from campus can come, or family doesn’t have to go to Iowa or Indiana or wherever, it’s definitely nice to be home,” Hanks said.
The Terps are 9-0 in College Park this year and in line to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.
Meharg said that’s not what the Terps are focused on right now, though. The team is keeping its “one game at a time” mantra and looking to repeat as Big Ten tournament champions.
“Knowing now that all the teams that are going to play in a tournament need that win, it makes it a great competition,” Holsboer said. “No one has anything to lose. It’s an all-or-nothing.”
