Maryland field hockey forward Bibi Donraadt received a pass with her back to goal, spun around and fired a shot into the bottom right corner in the 42nd minute of the Big Ten tournament championship against Iowa.
Donraadt’s score gave the Terps a two-goal lead just after halftime, but the Hawkeyes answered back about four minutes later to come within one.
Iowa kept the title game close but never equalized after Maryland took a lead in the sixth minute. The Terps held on for the 2-1 win that clinched their second Big Ten tournament championship in program history and first since 2015.
After winning a share of the regular season conference title, Sunday’s win secured Maryland’s second Big Ten trophy of the season.
“I’ve been listening to all the seniors and upperclassmen talking about how they haven’t won it since freshman year,” freshman Taylor Mason said. “To start my first year off on such a good note and a win is just so exciting.
Two days after setting the conference tournament record for most goals scored in a game with a 9-1 win against Ohio State, Maryland’s offense was mostly quiet against Iowa.
Through the first half, the Terps only had one shot — midfielder Madison Maguire’s sixth-minute goal. With her dad cheering from the bleachers donning half Maryland gear and half black-and-gold in support of sister, Makenna Maguire, Madison scored the game’s first goal.
When the Terps and Hawkeyes met earlier this season, Maryland only managed five shots in a 2-1 victory. In the championship matchup, the Terps ended with five shots again, while the Hawkeyes had nine.
With Iowa leading in shots, goalkeeper Sarah Holliday had to make five saves for the Terps. In one instance in the second half, Iowa’s leading scorer Madison Murphy beat defender Bodil Keus and created a one-on-one chance with Holliday. Holliday ran out of goal to smother the ball before Murphy could even get a shot off.
“She’s been playing out of her mind recently,” Maguire said. “She’s coming up so clutch for us and I’m just so happy to have her behind me in the goal.”
Holliday was also key for the team on penalty corners. The Hawkeyes earned three corner chances and scored its lone goal on one of those chances.
Maryland couldn’t convert any of its five penalty corners, but it didn’t matter. Maguire and Donraadt’s efforts were enough for Holliday and the defense.
So even after a mediocre offensive showing, coach Missy Meharg ran onto the field postgame beaming and congratulating her team for its first Big Ten tournament championship since 2015.
“We’ve been working hard since January and we’ve been talking about being in the position to win championships,” Meharg said. “You can talk about what it looks like, what it feels like, what it tastes like to be champions with them and they respond…this was something they planned on and they took it to heart.”
