When Maryland field hockey faced Ohio State earlier this season, defender Nike Lorenz took five shots, putting two on goal, but couldn’t finish any of them in a very defensive one-score game.
Just under six minutes into Friday’s Big Ten semifinal against the Buckeyes, Lorenz dribbled inside the circle past multiple defenders and rocketed a shot past goalkeeper Aaliyah Hernandez.
Less than 10 minutes later, the junior fell to the ground as she rebounded a shot and put the ball through the legs of Hernandez to seal the first hat trick of her career.
Lorenz’s scoring set a spark for the No. 2-ranked Terps, and they scored one more goal in the half and five more in the second en route to a 9-1 victory over Ohio State that broke the Big Ten tournament record for most goals in a game.
“The women, ever since we’ve been in postseason, have had a certain amount of mindset that’s all about advancing,” coach Missy Meharg said. “Once we got in the swing of scoring it just kept coming and kept coming and became pretty contagious. … We were just able to pick apart … their second line of defense pretty comfortably in the midfield.”
No. 1-seed Maryland will play No. 6-seed Iowa, who defeated No. 2-seed Michigan, 2-1, on Friday, in the championship Sunday.
Prior to the matchup, Ohio State hadn’t allowed more than three goals in a game all season.
Lorenz’s career high in scoring came in just her second game back following missing four games with an upper leg strain. She also notched an assist in the 29th minute, when forward Sabrina Rhodes tipped in a hard shot Lorenz had fired towards the net from just inside the circle.
“She did a great job, she had a great game,” Rhodes said. “She took her opportunities in the circle and she finished them. … She was really gritty on the circle today and that was what we needed.”
Kelee Lepage, Bodil Keus, Taylor Mason and Lizzy Dessoye all contributed with second-half goals, and Rhodes notched a second goal as well. Five of Maryland’s nine goals in the matchup came off penalty corners, an area in which the team had struggled towards the end of the regular season.
The Terps ended with 22 shots, 15 of which were on target. They held the Buckeyes to 11 shots and goalkeeper Sarah Holliday ended with four saves, and backups Noelle Frost and Skye Joegriner played the final 17:38.
After setting multiple records in the victory, both for individuals and as a team, Maryland will look to carry its momentum into winning the conference tournament championship for the first time since 2015.
“I think the reality is you try to take from your last game, but don’t make your next game be bigger than what it is,” Meharg said. “It’s just a game that’s at hand. When you get to the knockout stage that’s exactly what it is. Maryland has an opportunity to be Big Ten tournament champions on Sunday. And that game and that 70 minutes is going to put us in position to raise that trophy.”
