In the final quarter of a tied game, Hannah Boss eyed a go-ahead goal as she moved up the right wing and angled a pass toward Margot Lawn in the center of the shooting circle. Lawn collected and reset before driving the ball into the lower left corner from the outside right to put Maryland on top after the score was even for much of the second half.
That score was ultimately the game winner. After beating Michigan on Friday, the Terps bused to Columbus to conclude their weekend away from College Park with a 2-1 win over Ohio State.
Maryland (11-4, 4-1 Big Ten) entered the game with a perfect 19-0 all-time record against Ohio State, including eight shutout wins. Sunday, the Terps extended the streak to 20.
Boss, who sparked her team’s winning goal, led Maryland’s first score in the first quarter. She entered the shooting circle and passed through to a cutting Sammy Popper who anticipated the pass. Popper collected and spun around to drive the ball into the back of the net.
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Scoring in the first quarter has been crucial for the Terps — 11 of Maryland’s goals this season have been scored in the first six minutes. Popper made that 12 just four minutes into Sunday’s match.
Maryland pressured early on, spacing the field through long passes and moving the ball up the wings. After a slow opening frame, Ohio State (12-5, 4-4 Big Ten) started to respond in the second quarter. The Buckeyes received four penalty corners and four shots at Maryland’s net in a one-minute span. Ericka Morris-Adams used her body to block one of those attempts and Alyssa Klebasko stopped the others.
The Terps’ defense remained composed with the ball, holding possession on the backline but ultimately failing to convert it to offensive chances. Maryland’s quick passing attack increased the game’s intensity until they began getting intercepted by the Buckeyes, altering the momentum of the match.
Boss narrowly missed a score that would have put the Terps’ up two going into halftime. She took the ball up the field and found herself alone in the middle of the Buckeyes’ circle and launched a shot at the net, but it ricocheted off the post and Maryland remained one-up at the break.
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Maryland neutralized Makenna Webster, a forward with 15 goals and 38 points this season. Webster had very little space to move against the Terps’ ferocious defense and finished without a score and attempted just one shot.
Sunday marked Klebasko’s sixth start as goalie. She notched seven saves and was aided by a dominant backline. Klebasko’s shutout lasted until the third quarter, when Webster assisted on a Hallie Brost score in the final seconds of the third quarter.
A quarter later, Lawn followed Brost’s score with her own goal that put Maryland on top for good.
