With three ranked wins already, Maryland field hockey has the makings of a solid resume. But it has yet to capture a signature top-10 victory a month into the season, going 0-3 against those teams.
Coach Missy Meharg has scheduled premier matchups throughout her tenure in College Park. The Terps have played 24 games against top-10 opponents from 2021 through the 2024 season, winning 11.
For a young Maryland team, they have yet to look offensively prepared in their biggest contests. In the Terps’ three top-10 losses this season, they have failed to post at least 10 shots in each game and scored only two combined goals.
Maryland was outshot by No. 8 Princeton 17-9 on Sunday, marking the first time it has been outshot this season.
The Terps looked like the better team for most of the first quarter in Sunday’s matchup. Their defense continued to play at an elite level, maintaining possession for most of the frame.
Maryland intercepted a plethora of passes in its own territory but struggled to turn the takeaways into shot opportunities — it only had one shot on goal in the first quarter, coming in the first minute on a breakaway opportunity.
“I think in the first quarter we had good looks,” Meharg said. “We could have done a better job of posting up in front of their number 16, their free player, their free defender that intercepted the ball a lot. I think we could have really made her life a little bit more difficult with the intercept.”
[After 3 straight ranked wins, Maryland field hockey falls to No. 8 Princeton, 2-1]
Princeton’s offense dominated the rest of the game, tiring out the Terps’ defense and racking up nine shots in just the third quarter alone.
But in Maryland’s other two losses to top-10 opponents, creating more opportunities than the opponent wasn’t the problem — it was executing.
“You have to look at the stats last weekend,” Meharg said about the losses to No. 8 Boston College and No. 5 Duke. “We completely outshot and out-cornered both those teams and didn’t find ourselves with the outcome.”
A young offensive nucleus has struggled to gel this season. Maryland features just one upperclassman – junior forward Maci Bradford, who is tied for the team lead in goals – on its starting offensive lineup.
Freshman Jordyn Hollamon and sophomore Ella Gaitan share the tie with four goals each — but only two of the duo’s combined 12 goals have come against top-10 opponents.
The Terps lack of scoring variety could be a reason elite teams have shut them down. Only six players have scored this season. This isn’t on par with conference foes such as No. 1 Northwestern, who has had nine players score, while Michigan — who Maryland beat on Friday — has had 12 players find the net.
[No. 10 Maryland field hockey shuts out No. 12 Michigan 1-0]
In each of the past two years, Maryland has earned three wins against top-10 opponents in the regular season. The program is 0-3 this year, with three opportunities left to match that total.
But it won’t be easy. The Terps have reached a critical point in their schedule, as they will play three straight road games over the next two weekends. They will travel to Columbus and East Lansing to face Ohio State and Michigan State, and then face No. 9 Iowa the following weekend. They also have games scheduled against No. 1 Northwestern and No. 3 Virginia remaining
Meharg isn’t concerned with the grueling schedule, though. She remains confident in this young group—one she expects to continue gelling as the season progresses. By then, a top-10 win may have come.
