Every Maryland field hockey player rushed to meet goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko once the buzzer confirmed its 2-0 victory against No. 7 Michigan on Sunday.

Celebrations commenced near No. 8 Maryland’s own 23-meter line — the same area of the field where Michigan’s offense repeatedly stalled in the second half. The highest-scoring team in the Big Ten entering Sunday couldn’t crack the Terps’ defense.

Maryland controlled the pace against Michigan’s usual fast offense. A first half score helped the Terps turn an early track meet into a second half rock fight, and the Wolverines failed to adjust.

“Who cares? Nobody wins [on] how nice it looked,” coach Missy Meharg said. “They started to really bury us, but thankfully they had a ton of errors.”

Forward Abby Tamer has been Michigan’s offensive catalyst this season. The junior leads the Wolverines in goals and assists, and was Team USA’s highest scorer at this summer’s Olympics. Maryland fifth year Rayne Wright was largely successful in keeping the ball away from Tamer.

Michigan set forward on one of its earliest counterattacks with a push down the left sideline in the fourth minute. Wright stayed just ahead of Tamer as the two ran up the center of the field. Tamer eventually broke toward the ball, prompting Wright to follow her as a pass was played in.

Wright’s aggressive decision to cede the center of the shooting circle paid off. She beat Tamer to the ball and deflected it out of bounds.

“Rayne Wright, she has a lot of experience of shutting down key players in defense,” graduate student midfielder Emma DeBerdine said. “We trust her completely.”

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Wright and Tamer met again just more than a minute later. Tamer collected a steal deep in Maryland territory and aimed a defense-splitting pass for one of her teammates, but shanked the attempt. Wright immediately pounced on the loose ball.

From there, Maryland worked several passes before clearing the threat.

Wright wasn’t alone in her defensive exploits. Fellow defenders Josie Hollamon and Ericka Morris-Adams pressured Tamer and cut her passing lanes whenever Wright failed to.

“I thought our whole defense was just absolutely very callous,” Meharg said.

Maryland’s defensive game plan against the Wolverines was similar to its scheme against Ohio State just two days before. In that contest, Terps defenders made a pronounced effort to deny Ohio State’s offensive leader Makenna Webster any possessions .

Webster managed just two shots against Maryland’s aggressive defense. Much to Maryland’s chagrin, Webster’s second attempt resulted in a last minute, game-winning score.

Sunday’s defensive effort against Tamer was made simpler by a first half goal — something Maryland couldn’t produce against the Buckeyes.

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Senior midfielder Hope Rose scored in 20 minutes against Michigan, which gave the Terps a narrow advantage into halftime. But against the Buckeyes, it took more than 50 minutes for the teams to break the scoreless tie.

Playing with the lead allowed Maryland’s defense to sit back as it absorbed pressure. Maryland’s midfielders and attackers also dropped deeper to support their defenders. The Terps defended at times with all 11 players behind the ball.

More defenders also meant more Terps could mark Tamer, who managed just one shot on target in the second half as she struggled to operate in a crowded shooting circle.

Maryland’s low defensive block forced Michigan to attack methodically, which the Wolverines had not been accustomed to this season. A Michigan team that averaged 4.5 goals a game entering Sunday was reduced to its first shutout of the year.

The Terps had fallen narrowly short of signature wins on several occasions before Sunday. Against Michigan, tenacious defense guided Maryland to that long-awaited landmark victory.