Sept. 15, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

Maryland Looks to Extend Win Streak vs. Drexel
* The Terrapin field hockey team enters Tuesday night's game vs. Drexel with a six-game win streak. Maryland has dominated its opponents recording shutouts in five of the six games and allowing just one goal overall while the Terps have scored 37.

* Maryland looks to extend its win streak and start the season at 7-0. The Terps have accomplished this feat just four other times, including the 2002 season. UM's school-record 11-0 start was in 1997. That year, Maryland reached the NCAA Tournament quaterfinals.

A Look At The Terps
* With Maryland's two 7-0 wins over Rutgers and Pacific in the Terrapin Inviational, 16th-year head coach Missy Meharg recorded her 250th-career victory and boasts a 250-81-9 (.749). A 1985 graduate of Delaware, Meharg was named Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2002. During her tenure, she has led the Terps to two national championship titles (1993 and 1999) and five Atlantic Coast Championship crowns. Maryland's all-time winningest coach, she has been named National Coach of the Year four times.

* Having scored at least a goal in the Terps' first six games of the season, freshman Paula Infante leads the team with nine tallies and 28 points. Three players - All-American Colleen Barbieri, Sara Silvetti and Jackie Ciconte - have six a piece as nine players in all have at least a goal. After not recording an assist all season last year, sophomore Lauren Powley leads the team with nine helpers.

* Sophomore Tori Cano has logged the most minute in goal. In over 326 minutes, she boasts a 0.21 goals against average and team-leading seven saves. Redshirt freshman Christina Restivo has not allowed a goal in 90:10 minutes played. The Terps goalkeepers have recorded shutouts in five of the six games played.

* Maryland has been peppering its opposing goalies, outscoring its opponents 37-1 and outshooting them 165-12.

* The Terps return 11 letterwinners from last year's 17-5 team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and reached the ACC Tournament finals. Seven starters return, including 2002 NFHCA second team All-American and 2001 ACC Rookie of the Year Colleen Barbieri. Barbieri is the team's top-returning scorer. Maryland also welcomes 10 newcomers to the squad who have made an immediate impact.

Terps' Last Time Out
* No. 3-ranked Maryland won its seventh Terrapin Invitational, defeating Rutgers and Pacific by identical scores of 7-0. The Terps defense did not surrender a shot or a penalty corner to the Scarlet Knights and limited the Tigers to two shots and a penalty corner.

* Rutgers was not allowed a shot or a penalty corner for the game as the Terps attempted 32 shots. In the final game of the Terrapin Invitational, Pacific broke through for two shots, one of which was saved by Maryland goalkeeper Christina Restivo.

* There were seven different goal scorers for Maryland over the two games. Amber McQullan and Meredith Long, who tallied goals for this first time this season, were among the Terp scorers.

A Look at the Dragons
* A 1991 graduate of West Chester, Denise Zelenak has mentored the Dragons for nine seasons. In Drexel's first season in the Colonial Athletic Association, the team recorded a team-record six-consecutive wins and made a second trip to the ECAC Championship. A 2000 NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, she was also head coach at her alma mater for two years.

* Drexel comes into Tuesday's game with a 1-3 record, coming off of its first win of the season, a 2-1 decision over Sacred Heart on Sept. 13. Two of the three losses have come at the hands of ranked opponents Princeton (5-1) and a 2-1 overtime loss to Virginia.

* Sophomore Elizabeth Siedel leads the Dragons with three goals and classmate Rachael Bloemaker and senior Lauren Zukowski have a team-leading two assists. Katie Dougherty has played every minute in goal for the Dragons, posting a 3.45 goals against average and 27 saves.

* Drexel is a relatively young team with just four seniors and one junior on the 22-player roster. The Dragons returned 15 players from last year's 11-9 team, including seven starters. In its first year in the Colonial Athletic Association, Drexel went 2-5 and finished fifth.

* LAST MEETING: In its home opener, Maryland shutout Drexel, 3-0. Goalkeeper Kerry Hearsey posted her first solo shutout and the Terps offense amassed 22-1 shot advantage. Three different players scored goals including Sara Silvettit who knocked in the third on a penalty corner.

Series versus...
* DREXEL: In the only two meetings in the series, Maryland defeated Drexel 6-0 in 2001 and 3-0 in 2002. Both games were played in College Park.

SERIES VS. DREXEL - UM leads, 2-0
10/28/01   College Park       W 6-0
9/6/02     College Park       W 3-0

Meharg Reaches 250
* Maryland's 7-0 win over Pacific on the final day of the Terrapin Invitational gave head coach Missy Meharg her 250th-career victory. Already the program's all-time winningest coach, she boasts a record of 250-81-9 in 16 years. On Sept. 20, 1998, Meharg became Maryland's winningest coach with a 3-0 win vs. UMass, chalking up her 153rd career triumph.

In The ACC Stats (stats are as of 9/9)
* Several Terps are ranked among the top 10 in the ACC statistical rankings. Freshman Paula Infante leads the league with 15 points and five goals. She is also 10th with 0.75 assists per game. Sophomore All-American Lauren Powley is second in the ACC with 1.25 assists per game and classmate Emily Boyer is tied for third with 1.25 apg.

* Redshirt-freshman Christina Restivo is tied for the league lead with a 0.00 goals against average, having logged just over 54 minutes in three games this season. Sophomore Tori Cano is tied for third with a miniscule 0.31 GAA in 222 minutes.

* As a team, Maryland is second in the conference with 15.25 points per game, 5.75 goals per game and 3.75 assists per game. Duke leads the ACC in each of those categories. The Terps sport the best goals against average (0.25) and are tied with the Blue Devils with the most shutouts (3).

Terp Attack
* The formidable attack from two years ago seems to be back. Maryland has outscored its opponents 37-1 in its first six games of the season. Last year, the Terps scored just 17 goals in the first four games and needed 14 games to score 37 (Oct. 13).

* Freshman defender Paula Infante has scored in every game this season. She has also scored two goals in at least three games. The team's leading scorer with nine goals and 23 points, she leads a potent attack that has seen five different players score two goals or more in a game. Junior co-captain Sara Silvetti and sophomore Jackie Ciconte have notched a pair of goals in two games while junior Ajna Boettcher is the only Terp to knock in three this season.

* Two years ago, the Terps were the top-ranked offense in the nation. Maryland ranked 14th at the end of last season.

Terps "D" Up
* Five of Maryland's six victories this season have come by virtue of shutout. The Terps have allowed just one goal so far this season while allowing just 12 shots and eight penalty corners. It's no wonder the Terrapin defense has been so hard to penetrate. Last year, UM was tied for fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 1.10 goals per game.

* A tough Maryland defense has contributed to goalkeepers' Tori Cano and Christina Restivo non-existent goals against averages. A redshirt freshman, Restivo leads the ACC with an 0.00 GAA, while Cano is tied for third at 0.31.

Infante Earns Conference Honor
* Freshman defender Paula Infante was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week for the opening week of the season on Sept. 1. The Santiago, Chile, native tallied three goals and two assists in the Terps' first two wins of the season. She also contributed to Maryland's defensive effort which allowed just three shots and one penalty corner combined over both games.

Up Next
* The Terps next four of five games are against teams ranked in the NFHCA's Top 20. Seventh-ranked Michigan visits College Park for the first time on Sept. 19 for the second game of a double-header at 8 p.m. The last two meetings against the Wolverines were in the NCAA Tournament championship game. The Terps were crowned national champions after downing U-M, 2-1, in 1999. Michigan got its revenge with a 2-0 victory in 2001. Prior to this game, Harvard and Richmond square off at 6 p.m.