None of last Sunday’s offensive struggles against then-No. 7 Penn State seemed to carry over into Maryland field hockey’s Friday matchup with Indiana.
The Terps took over 65 minutes to score and only had 13 shots in the 3-1 loss to the Nittany Lions.
But a week of introspection into what went wrong against Penn State appeared to pay off as No. 2 Maryland scored just 12 seconds into its contest against Indiana. And from there, the Hoosiers scored three more goals to build off of its dominant start en route to a 4-0 win over the Hoosiers.
“It was really big for us because we didn’t really start out on the best note when we were playing Penn State,” forward Linnea Gonzales said. “I think that just set the tempo for the game and gave everyone energy. After we started off that quick we wanted to keep going and we wanted to keep getting more.”
The victory is the Terps’ 14th of the season, and its fifth Big Ten win.
Maryland held Indiana without a shot for the entirety of the contest. When the Hoosiers earned a penalty corner opportunity in the first half, the Terps cleared the ball before goalkeeper Sarah Holliday could be troubled in net.
“Bodil Keus, Hannah Bond and Riley Donnelly were exceptional today with Sarah Holliday,” coach Missy Meharg said. “That communication with our goalkeeper and our three defenders was spot on, and when you have good early communication you’re going to be in a position to not give up a lot of shots.”
The Terps ended with 20 shots, nine of whom were on target.
Immediately after Maryland started the game with the ball, it began a passing sequence to get the ball up the field. Midfielder Kyler Greenwalt drove the ball into Indiana territory, forcing Hoosiers goalkeeper Sachi Ananias out of the net. Greenwalt then crossed the ball across the goalmouth to midfielder Madison Maguire, who easily slotted home the opening goal.
Gonzales continued to perform well for the Terps in the victory. In the 13th minute of the contest, she rocketed the ball into the net after receiving a side pass from Keus on a penalty corner. Then, in the 22nd minute, she managed to sweep the ball into the net from the far left side off a feed from defender Kelee Lepage. The senior now has 12 goals on the season.
“She’s such a talent to have on this team,” forward Mayv Clune said. “It just brings a sense of security because we know she brings that momentum, she brings that drive, she is in it 100 percent. Seeing her work her butt off on the field makes everyone work so much harder.”
The Hoosiers tried to slow down Maryland’s offense by putting in goalkeeper Shelby Querry for the second half, but it didn’t work. Clune also scored a goal for Maryland, her second of the season, in the 60th minute of the contest.
