No. 5 Maryland field hockey’s two Big Ten tournament contests couldn’t have been more different stylistically, but they both came down to a penalty shootout. One ended in elation, the other in agony.
Maryland won a rock fight against No. 16 Iowa on Thursday after Hawkeye freshman Sabrina McGroarty pushed her shootout attempt wide of the near post. One day later, Terps’ fifth year defender Rayne Wright had an eerily identical shootout miss at the same end of the field, capping a barn-burning semifinal loss to No. 9 Michigan.
The Terps didn’t change their penalty shootout strategy between the two games, but their familiarity with the opposing goalkeepers was drastically different. Coach Missy Meharg said Maryland couldn’t prepare for a shootout against Wolverine goalkeeper Hala Silverstein because Michigan hadn’t been in one this season.
Adjusting to Silverstein’s unknown shootout tendencies proved too difficult. The Terps missed all four of their attempts in the semifinal defeat.
“Really good people [who] do shootouts, they read the goalkeeper, and that goalie was very, very fast. She came right off the line,” Meharg said.
Unlike Silverstein, Maryland had an abundance of penalty shootout film on Iowa goalkeeper Mia Magnotta. She had played in five during her Iowa career entering Thursday.
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Iowa lost in a penalty shootout to Monmouth earlier this season. The Hawks notched three of their four makes against Magnotta by flinging backhanded shots to the goalkeeper’s right-hand side. The Terps appeared to pick up on that trend when facing Magnotta on Thursday.
Hope Rose, Maci Bradford and Annemijn Klijnhout, despite executing their run-ups in different fashions, each finished their penalty strokes with comparable backhanded finishes past Magnotta’s right side.
Rose, a senior midfielder, was Maryland’s first taker, darting forward before breaking to her right once she reached the shooting circle. Magnotta shadowed Rose toward that side and quickly went to ground, attempting to block a potential shot.
Noticing the goalkeeper’s slide, Rose gradually spun to Magnotta’s right-hand side before rolling the ball into a wide-open cage. Bradford, a sophomore forward, and Klijnhout, a freshman midfielder, followed Rose and were both able to convert in similar manners.
Stopping a right-sided attempt is difficult for most goalkeepers, as they hold their sticks in their right hands while wearing a stouter pad on the opposite arm.
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The Terps aimed to exploit this against Silverstein in Friday’s semifinal. But without having any prior tape on the goalkeeper’s shootout tendencies, scoring with the previous day’s technique was less probable. Silverstein capitalized on her unpredictability in her first career penalty shootout.
“She stayed on her feet a long time and that’s the whole goal, Meharg said. “[She’s] very athletic and that’s where her size and agility really helped her in terms of our shot selection.”
Rosemissed the Terps’ first attempt and Klijnhout took their second. Klijnhout attempted to score in the same manner as she had the day prior, but it didn’t work against Silverstein.
Klijnhout created a shooting opening against the Iowa goalkeeper by baiting her into an off-balance position on her left side. Silverstein — in anticipation of Klijnhout’s shoulder fake — held an agile position, allowing her to make a right-handed recovery block.
The Terps couldn’t prepare for Silverstein like they did for Magnotta. Silverstein predicted Maryland’s shootout strategy because she’d seen it play out just a day prior. The contrast in available information paid dividends for the Wolverines.
