As time winded down on the second overtime period of No. 4 Maryland field hockey’s season opener against No. 7 Louisville, freshman forward Annemijn Klijnhout turned two defenders and blasted a shot towards the Cardinals goal.
Klijnhout’s effort was headed straight at Louisville goalkeeper Brandelynn Heinbaugh. Then, Hope Rose got a deflection on the attempt, sliding it past Heinbaugh to win a thrilling season-opener for the Terps at home on Friday, 2-1.
“They had a couple opportunities in overtime but I think we kept our composure,” Rose said. “It’s a great feeling because they were a great team and it was a great competition throughout.”
The first chance from either team came for Maryland (1-0) just two minutes into the opening quarter.
A lofted ball created a scramble in front of the shooting circle, eventually falling to Ella Gaitan. The freshman turned her defender to get off a shot, but Heinbaugh easily pushed the slow look off the goal frame.
The Terps held possession in the Cardinals’ half of the field for the majority of the first frame, working most of their offensive attack down the left side. A rotating Louisville (0-1) backline matched the push — Maryland often found itself playing the ball back into midfield.
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Louisville’s offense struggled throughout the first half, its first chance not occurring until just over five minutes remaining before halftime.
A diagonal entry pass played Mia Duchars open in front of the Maryland cage. Goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko forced Duchars into a tight-angle shot that was ultimately saved, but the threat hadn’t been entirely cleared as the shot led to a penalty corner.
While Rayne Wright blocked an initial shot off the line, the Cardinals had a second chance, taking advantage on a look into the bottom corner for the match’s opening goal. Just a minute later, Maryland Maryland responded on a penalty corner.
Josie Hollaman slowly controlled a blistering entry pass as a slight fumble allowed Louisville defenders to close into her shooting space. But Hollaman snuck a inch-perfect shot past Heinbaugh, even with multiple bodies in front of her, to equalize the match at one.
“When called upon to pick up quickly on something, [Hollaman’s] just going to put it on,” Meharg said. “That’s all you have to do is just make a goalie have to play a ball in chaos, and she just did a tremendous job with that.”
The penalty corner goals aside, each team displayed strong defense over the first two quarters. Heinbaugh saved three of the four shots that Maryland put on goal, while the Terps’ time-of-possession advantage kept the Cardinals out of their half.
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Maryland seemed to string a dominant third quarter. Maya Everett was the catalyst for numerous chances thanks to several pinpoint entry passes, but Louisville’s consistent strong backline pushed attackers into the corners to stifle the Terps and keep them without a goal in the frame.
Heinbaugh only needed to make one save in the period. The graduate student secured a pair in the fourth quarter — both coming on a Maryland penalty corner just over four minutes into the frame.
Holloman had plenty of space to shoot off the inserted feed, unlike with her earlier goal, and blasted a shot to Heinbaugh’s right. Heinbaugh pushed it off the post to keep the score even, ultimately resulting in overtime.
The seven-on-seven overtime allowed Maryland’s attack to operate with more freedom. Hope Rose was a key beneficiary — using her speed to run at defenders from the midfield — but only registered one shot in the first overtime, slapping it high over the cage.
The slow Cardinals offense created very few chances in the first overtime period. One of their lone was a penalty corner chance with just under two minutes remaining, but Terps midfielder Alina Gerke stifled the first corner and miraculously stopped two follow ups to send the exhausting stalemate into a second overtime.
“I was super pleased with our entire defense. Alina’s nature and the way we blocked those three shots tells you that,” Meharg said. “The victory goes to the most tenacious and I think Maryland was the most tenacious today.”
Rose’s deflected goal, over 78 minutes after the game started, ended a tremendously hard-fought victory for Maryland to begin its 2024.
