Maryland field hockey entered halftime tied with Michigan on the scoreboard, but the Wolverines had all the momentum.
Michigan took six shots — including a four-shot flurry that required three saves from goalkeeper Sarah Holliday — and scored the equalizer in the final 12 minutes of the first half, sending the game to halftime even at 1-1.
The Terps reversed that in the second half, however, preventing the Wolverines from creating opportunities and converting a chance of their own to get an advantage back shortly after intermission.
The No. 3 Terps maintained control of the game after forward Linnea Gonzales’ second score of the game in the 44th minute, allowing the No. 8 Wolverines just three shots after halftime and winning 2-1 to move to 11-0 on the season.
“Michigan is always so athletic, so well coached,” coach Missy Meharg said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our team for the outcome. We had segments of our game growing, which is phenomenal.”
Neither team put a shot on goal until the 10th minute, when a Maryland (11-0, 3-0 Big Ten) effort was saved. Michigan (6-4, 2-1) didn’t have a shot until the 23rd minute.
Maryland had the upper hand for most of the first half, scoring in the 11th minute and holding the advantage in possession. While Michigan took control for the end of the first half, Maryland gained it back for the rest of the game, ending with 17 shots compared to Michigan’s 11.
Gonzales had more than half of the Terps’ looks at goal, and after sending all three of her shots wide of the net in the team’s 1-0 win over No. 23 Ohio State on Friday, the senior connected with two of her efforts Sunday.
Her first score came on a deflection on a penalty corner in the 11th minute, and she spun around and took a hard shot for the game-winner in the 45th.
In the first half, Michigan played a box defense that focused on Gonzales and defender Nike Lorenz, Maryland’s two leading scorers. In the second, they put less pressure on Gonzales and more on Lorenz. With Gonzales roaming around the field playing different positions, she scored in both halves.
“It’s very different coming from midfield and forward all the time and switching,” Gonzales said. “But when I do get the chance to be forward, I like to take my opportunities.”
Lorenz, meanwhile, said the team’s defense has done an effective job of communicating and helping each other with positioning, preventing teams from getting many looks at goal. And when the Wolverines did challenge Holliday, the senior was up to the task, making four saves and turning away a Wolverines penalty corner in the game’s dying moments.
The performance came less than a week after Holliday was benched against Princeton after she gave up three goals on three shots in the first half.
“She’s got a lot of experience and she’s got a lot of talent,” Meharg said. “She has a goalkeeping unit with Noelle Frost [where] anybody can be on the field, and I think that’s always very healthy for talented athletes, to know that if they’re not on their mark they’ve got great competition.”
