Maryland field hockey defender Bodil Keus stood near the 23-meter line with her left hand over her face, seemingly frustrated with the previous sequence.
After Saint Joseph’s forward Anna Willocks scored on a penalty stroke to give Saint Joseph’s a one-goal lead on Sunday, Keus stood in the center of the shooting circle with an opportunity to tie the game. The Amsterdam native’s shot was saved. A minute later, she found herself in the same spot. Hawks goalie Victoria Kammerinke saved that attempt as well.
But Keus converted from a penalty corner around the 19-minute mark in the second frame, helping the Terps to a 2-1 victory. Her finish highlighted Maryland’s depth, coach Missy Meharg said, and prompted a late offensive burst. The burst came after a sluggish first half forced the veteran coach to preach patience at the intermission.
“Because we’re so deep, you see a lot of people trying to prove themselves,” Meharg said. “It made us a little disorganized at times. We were able to rotate seven people in the front four pretty consistently.”
Keus, a sophomore who made her Maryland debut on Sunday, was among four Terps players to come off the bench in an attempt to energize the offense.
Keus took three of the Terps’ 10 shots on goal, one shy of Maryland’s total on-goal attempts in the first half. The missed opportunities weren’t frustrating, Keussc said. But when the Terps scored their first goal this season after failing to do so for more than 50 minutes, she quickly joined the celebration.
“Just relax and [get] going again,” Keus said of her approach. “Just stay cool.”
Keus’ successful penalty attempt, which midfielder Madison Maguire assisted, prompted Maryland’s more aggressive approach in the game’s waning moments. In the 65th minute, midfielder Brooke Adler connected with forward Sabrina Rhodes, who scored to give Maryland a 2-1 advantage.
Both Meharg and Keus attributed the team’s second half success to improved communication, a key element for an offense that is without Welma Luus and Grace Balsdon, its 2016 leading scorers.
“We definitely started connecting more on passes and being more calm with the ball,” Rhodes said. “[In the first half], we were a little bit frantic on the ball and weren’t connecting with each other.”
The second half perspective change came after Meharg reminded her team in the locker room at halftime to become more engaged.
Keus was among the first to respond, tying the game and firing off a blocked shot attempt in the 61st minute, before Rhodes provided the winning goal.
“I was super impressed with Bodil Keus coming into the game at centerback,” Meharg said.
Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story said Keus transferred from Delaware. This story has been updated.
