Northwestern forward Ashley Sessa played a penalty corner entry pass to a setting Lauren Hunter just more than 10 minutes in on Friday. As the ball laid still, sophomore Ilse Tromp laced a blistering shot past Maryland field hockey goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko. The full move lasted only three seconds.
Tromp’s early goal was produced from one of the 18 penalty corners between the Terps and Wildcats — the highest combined tally in any game Maryland’s played this season. But despite the abundance of penalty corner opportunities, the contest was decided solely by Tromp’s goal.
No. 5 Maryland, slightly less precise than No. 2 Northwestern in its penalty corner execution, was dealt its third 1-0 loss of the season.
Coach Missy Meharg said the Terps worked on improved creativity in attacking penalty corners ahead of the matchup. Their efforts nearly paid off.
Already one goal down, midfielder Emma DeBerdine set up a penalty corner entry pass just over five minutes before halftime. The graduate student fed Ericka Morris-Adams, who set the ball for midfielder Hope Rose at the top of the shooting circle.
Rose faked a shot before cleverly playing a pass back to an unmarked DeBerdine near the baseline. She fired a shot at the post — initially uncovered — but the opening closed almost immediately.
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Wildcat goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz — the lone Northwestern player to read Rose’s fake — laid her stick along the turf, covering the spot that DeBerdine aimed at to dramatically deflect the attempt out of bounds.
Maryland executed the shrewd penalty corner almost to perfection. It was good enough to beat every Northwestern defender, but not the best statistical goalkeeper in the NCAA.
While the Terps created other notable chances from penalty corners, Meharg wasn’t pleased with their overall output.
“We had … seven penalty corners, unfortunately I think three of them were not on target,” Meharg said. “Some piece of it was not sharp.”
Two of the three off-target attempts that Meharg referenced were the result of disconnected passes.
Maryland’s second penalty corner of the day featured a similar setup to Rose’s shot-fake, but in this instance the entry pass took a precarious bounce off Morris-Adams’ stick. The ball rolled to midfield as the Terps had to reset play.
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Maryland later played one too many passes on its first penalty corner of the fourth quarter, which provided Northwestern enough time to pressure the ball before a potential shot. The chance petered out as a Wildcats defender knocked the ball into the field’s corner.
Northwestern didn’t have that issue. It worked a shot from all 11 of its penalty corners.
Klebasko had a remarkable match in front of the cage. The sophomore blocked three penalty corner shots with a mix of pad and stick saves. But the Wildcats struck once, all they needed.
Tromp’s goal epitomized Northwestern’s practiced experience. It was the fifth time this season that Sessa and Hunter combined for penalty corner assists.
“That team has two players and a coach that came back from Paris,” Meharg said. “That makes things very, very comfortable.”
Maryland’s three losses have all been narrow to top-five teams. Improvements in the Terps’ penalty corners and growth from their overall attack can aid them as the season ensues.
