Maryland goalkeeper Paige Kieft played in just two games during the regular season. Yet, in Thursday’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal, Kieft came up with the Terps’ most important play of the season.

The No. 5 Terps (13-5, 6-2 Big Ten) held a 3-2 penalty shootout advantage when Iowa freshman Sabrina McGroarty, stepped up to the ball, needing to score to keep Iowa’s conference tournament hopes alive. Kieft rushed out of her cage as McGroarty dashed forward. The senior goalkeeper forced McGroarty into a tight angle shot, which she couldn’t convert.

It ended a dramatic 1-0 victory for second-seeded Maryland field hockey over seventh-seeded Iowa in a penalty shootout at Maryland’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex. The entire team rushed to congratulate Kieft as soon as McGroarty’s shot rolled out of bounds.

“We’re just cheerleaders at that point,” coach Missy Meharg said. “Paige has a wonderful type of confidence that’s on the verge of such unique arrogance, and it’s her thing. We’re very fortunate that she’s that talented in that situation.”

The back-and-forth shootout started with a score from senior Hope Rose. Each team traded misses before the Hawkeyes leveled the score at one, on their second attempt.

After Maryland took a 3-1 lead, an Iowa make and a Maryland miss set up the final act, which saw Keift and Terps prevail.

Maryland came incredibly close to finding the winning goal in the two overtime periods ahead of the shootout. Its best efforts were denied by Iowa shot-stopper Mia Magnotta, as part of a herculean 17-save effort. The redshirt junior finished tied for the second most saves in Big Ten tournament history with her brilliant performance.

[Maryland field hockey’s strong schedule prepared it for postseason play]

The Terps attempted a season-high 31 shots without scoring before the shootout.

“Mia played out of her head,” Meharg said. “You hope you don’t come up against goalies like that.”

Maryland blitzed Iowa, 5-0, when the two teams met during the regular season. The quarterfinal meeting was much tenser.

A cohesive Hawkeye attack pushed forward with steady pace during the first quarter.

Iowa forward Alex Wesneski flipped a shot on goal just 60 seconds in, which Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko saved. The Hawkeyes continued controlling possession early on but neither team put another attempt on target in the opening frame.

“Our signature is to put really high pressure on players when they have the ball, and we just weren’t doing that in the first quarter,” Meharg said. “That gave them space, it gave them control and it made us feel a little bit chaotic.”

The Terps gained a possession advantage in the following quarter, helping their offense find a consistent rhythm. That attacking pressure led to seven shots — after having none in the first quarter — and four penalty corners. None resulted in scores.

Maryland scored more than a third of its Big Ten goals from penalty corners during the regular season. The Terps’ offensive penalty corner unit looked uncharacteristically out-of-sync in the second.

The Terps won a pair of the set-piece opportunities midway through the second quarter for their first clear-cut chances of the contest.

[No. 7 Maryland field hockey closes regular season with 4-2 win over No. 17 Penn State]

The initial chance dissolved after the Terps tried to play several short passes around the shooting circle but couldn’t find an opening. Their ensuing penalty corner chance quickly went awry as defender Ericka Morris-Adams lost control of an entry pass from midfielder Emma DeBerdine.

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Josie Hollamon nearly broke the deadlock with under a minute to play in the first half.

Hollamon ripped an effort on target but Hawkeye shot-stopper Mia Magnotta denied her look with a clever leg save. Maryland’s scoring chance hadn’t completely faltered, as DeBerdine took control of the rebound. The graduate student rolled a shot inches wide of the far post.

The whistle sounded on a scoreless first half just over 30 seconds later.

The Terps outshot Iowa 11-1 in the second half, and controlled possession in the Hawkeyes’ end of the field for much of that time. Maryland failed to turn that into scores, but it did see a couple of extremely narrow misses.

The regulation buzzer sent Maryland to just its second overtime contest of the season — the only other time coming when the Terps took down Louisville in their season opener. Maryland won that contest with a score late in double overtime.

Maryland returns to action Friday after an exhaustingly hard-fought victory. It’ll face either Michigan or Indiana in a semi-final matchup.