No. 3 Terp Field Hockey Face two Top-15 Squads
9/30/2004 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 30, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
GAME 12: #3 Maryland (10-1, 0-1) vs. #13 Virginia (6-5, 0-1)
Saturday, October 2 • 1 p.m.
University Hall Turf Field (2,500/Turf)
Charlottesville, Va.
#3 Maryland vs. #9 American (8-2)
Sunday, October 3 • 2 p.m.
Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex (1,400/Turf)
College Park, Md.
Terps Face two Top-15 Squads
• Third-ranked Maryland is coming up on a big weekend, facing two teams ranked in the top 15 while also looking for its first conference win of the season. The Terps travel down to No. 13 Virginia for an ACC clash for the first part of the weekend. The Cavaliers play host on Saturday, Oct. 3. The weekend concludes back at home at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex with Maryland hosting No. 9 American on Sunday, Oct. 2.
• Maryland's return to Charlottesville, Va., will be particularly special for redshirt junior Emily Beach. She will have a very different view of the field than she has been used to. Accustomed to the home bench at University Turf Field, she spent her first two years playing collegiate field hockey at the University of Virginia. This time, she will be sitting on the visitor's side.
• Sunday's meeting between American and Maryland will be the first time in the history of the program both teams are ranked in the top 10. The game will also be a family affair as sophomore Paula Infante will be squaring off against sisters Camila and Denise, both of whom are members of the AU field hockey squad. The Terps have never lost to the Eagles but this is the first-ever meeting in which both teams are ranked in the top 10.
Terps in the Polls
• Maryland is ranked No. 3 in the nation this week, earning a top-three rating for the third-consecutive week. Maryland was the No. 1 team in the nation for the week of Sept. 20, earning the top spot in the rankings for the first time since the 2002 season.
• The ACC continues to be the strongest conference in the nation as four ACC squads are ranked in the top five while all five are in the top 15. The only non-ACC team ranked in the top five is No. 4 Michigan State.
A Look At The Terps
• Maryland's potent attack is bolstered by balanced scoring as 12 different Terrapins have tallied at least one goal. Juniors Jackie Ciconte and Tiffany Marsh each have a team-leading eight goals apiece, while Marsh has 22 points for a team high. Another junior, All-American Lauren Powley, has seven assists, the most on the squad.
• Sophomore Christina Restivo continues to impress fans with her play. She is the team's top netminder posting three shutouts while helping the squad to six overall. Her 1.02 goals against average ranks seventh in the nation. She had a career game in the Terps' win at Princeton, making a personal best 11 saves, many of them diving stops. Freshman Kathryn Masson made her first-career start vs. Quinnipiac, earning the win.
• The only team in the country to return two first team All-Americans, the Terps return the majority of a squad that reached the 2004 NCAA Tournament semifinal game while recording the program's fourth 20-win season. Going 20-4 overall, Maryland ended the year ranked fourth in the nation on offense while fielding the fifth-best defense in the country. Ranked third in the final NFHCA Top 20 poll, the Terps return 15 letterwinners, including nine starters.
• Missy Meharg is in her 17th year as head coach of the Terrapins. Under her tutelage, she has led Maryland to two national titles and five ACC titles while putting together a 274-86-9 record. A four time National Coach of the Year, she has also guided the Terps to all four 20-win seasons while mentoring the team to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven NCAA Tournament final fours.
Last Time Out
• The Terps dropped their first game of the season, falling to Wake Forest, 3-2, in Winston-Salem, N.C., but bounced back to defeat Quinnipiac at home, 4-0, the following day.
• Maryland took a 1-0 lead early on against the defending national champions, on a goal from Tiffany Marsh. However, WFU's Kelly Dostal scored three-straight goals to tie and eventually give the Deacons the lead. The game was knotted at 1-1 at halftime. Wake Forest scored two in the second half and Maryland responded with a goal at 50:08 to get to within a tally, but could not get any closer. The Terps outshot Wake Forest, 14-10, and held the advantage on penalty corners, as well, 8-3.
• Against Quinnipiac, the Terps scored two goals in each half to claim the 4-0 win. Junior All-American Lauren Powley scored the game winner and assisted on another tally to pace the Maryland attck which had 37 shot attempts. Freshman Kathryn Masson made her first-career start in goal helping the Terps to their sixth shutout of the season.
Terps in the ACC Stats
• With the Terps sporting a balanced attack where 12 different players have scored at least a goal, three players rank in the top 10 in the ACC in points as of Sept. 27. Junior Tiffany Marsh is leading the charge with 22 points, tying for sixth in the league while junior All-American Jackie Ciconte is ninth with 18 and sophomore All-American Paula Infante is 10th with 17.
• Junior All-American Lauren Powley is the team's assist leader with 0.64 assists per game which is tied for fifth. Marsh and senior Emily Boyer are both tied with one another for ninth in the ACC at 0.55 apg.
• Sophomore Christina Restivo made a career-high 11 saves at Princeton and has 23 on the season, averaging 2.09 stops per game, ranking sixth in the ACC. Her 1.02 goals against average is second in the league.
• As a team, the Terps are second in the league in several categories, including shutouts (6), points per game (12.8), assists per game (3.91) and goals against average at a diminutive 0.95.
A Look at Virginia & American
VIRGINIA
• Ranked 13th in the nation, the Cavaliers are 6-5 on the season after a mid-week loss to William & Mary, 5-4. Virginia will also be looking for their first conference win of the season on Saturday, having lost to North Carolina, 4-0, on Sept. 22. UVA was ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation in the first poll of the season but has remained in the 13th spot the last two weeks.
• Ranked 14th in the nation in scoring as of Sept. 27, Virginia has scored 35 goals this season, tallying at least three goals in all but two games. In the opening game of the season, UVA defeated Bucknell, 8-2. Mia Link is the team's top goal scorer with 10. Starting in every game, she also has a team-best 23 points and has two game winning goals, tying with Katie Phillips for the team high.
• While the Cavalier offense is in the top 15 in the nation, their defense has struggled to keep up, allowing 31 goals on the season, four fewer goals than UVA has scored. Katherine Blair and Logan Carr have split time in the case. Carr has 43 saves on the year and carries a 2.6 goals against average, while Blair has made 27 saves and has a 2.5 GAA.
• Jessica Wilk is in her sixth season at the Cavalier helm. Boasting a 66-50 record, she is a 1990 graduate of Maryland. A member of the ACC's 50th Anniversary Field Hockey team, she played for one season under Terrapin head coach Missy Meharg in 1988.
• Last Meeting: After a thrilling 3-2 Maryland win in College Park during the regular season, the Terps went on to defeat the Cavaliers in convincing fashion in the first round of the ACC Tournament, 5-1, in Charlottesville, Va. Maryland led, 4-0, in the first half as five different Terps scored in the game.
• Series vs. Virginia: Saturday's game will be the 48th meeting in the history of the series, the most of any Terrapin opponent. Maryland leads the all-time series, 26-19-2. The Terps have won the last four meetings and eight of the last nine. Maryland's last visit to Charlottesville, Va., was a 5-1 Terrapin win in the first round of the ACC Tournament last year.
AMERICAN
• Local rival American comes to College Park with an 8-2 record and ranked ninth in the nation, achieving its highest ranking ever. The Eagles are coming off of a thrilling 4-3 win over James Madison on Wednesday night, escaping from a second-half JMU comeback.
• Returning seven starters and 12 letterwinners overall from last year's 17-4 squad, the Eagles have been ranked in the top 20 every week since the final five weeks of the 2003 campaign. AU is led by Patriot League Rookie of the Year and first-team all-conference selection Camila Infante. She leads the team with 16 points while also scoring a team-high tying six goals. Third team All-American and fellow countrywoman Javiera Villagara is tied with Infante with six goals. The attack is ranked 12th in the nation with 3.13 goals per game.
• Sophomore goaltender Alison Fayfich has played the majority of minutes in goal for the Eagles, posting a 1.06 goals against average in 595 minutes. Fayfich and the AU defense is ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 1.00 goals per game. Fayfich ranks ninth in the nation in goals against average.
• Head coach Steve Jennings has revived the American field hockey program since taking over seven years ago. A 1997 University of Maryland graduate, he was named Div. 1 Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year after he led the Eagles to the Patriot League title and to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance last year.
• Last Meeting: Maryland defeated the Eagles, 2-0, at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex last year. The Terps' second-to-last game of the season, they tallied both goals in the first half to claim the win.
• Series vs. American: Maryland has never lost to the Eagles in 25 meetings. After meeting every year from 1974-1990, the series was put on hold until 1997-1999. After taking another two-year break, the two teams have met in each of the last two seasons. The Terrapins have dominated the series, allowing AU to score just one goal on four separate occassions. Maryland has scored at least two goals in every game but two.
Sister Act
• Sunday's game vs. American will be a family affair. Maryland sophomore Paula Infante's two sisters, Camila and Denise, are members of the American field hockey squad. Camila is also a sophomore at AU, while Denise is in her first year. Paula is the oldest of the three. The three sisters, along with sister Daniela, are members of the Chilean National Field Hockey Team.
Reunion in Charlottesville
• Redshirt junior Emily Beach is very familiar with University Hall Turf Field last year. Beach played her first two seasons of collegiate field hockey at the Univesrity of Virginia before transferring to the University of Maryland. After redshirting the 2003 campaign, she will be making her return to University Hall Turf Field but this time in a Terrapin uniform. Beach led the Cavaliers to their first-ever victory over a No. 1 team. In 2001, the top-ranked Terps fell to UVA, 3-2, in penalty strokes. Beach scored the game-deciding stroke for the upset.
Hail Alma Mater
• This weekend features matchups against two former Terrapins. Virginia head coach Jessica Wilk was a Terp from 1986-1988, garnering All-America honors three times, including first team status in 1988. She played under Missy Meharg in Meharg's first season as a head coach. Wilk was also named ACC Tournament MVP in 1986 and helped Maryland to the program's first national title in 1987.
• American head coach Steve Jennings is a 1997 Maryland graduate and was a member of the U.S. Men's National Team.
Barbieri Moves Up Record Books
• With her two goals at Delaware, 2002 first team All-American senior Colleen Barbieri moved into a three-way tie for eighth place among Maryland's all-time goal scorers. She is tied with Rachel Hiskins and Nadine Bennett with 49 career goals. Barbieri, the 2001 ACC Rookie of the Year, notched 17 goals her freshman year, a career high. Carla Tagliente holds the school record with 73 tallies which she scored from 1997-2000.
• Her five points over two games at Princeton and Delaware leapfrogged her over Christine DeBow and into 10th place on the Terrapins' all-time points list. She has collected 115 points over her career in College Park.
van Leeuwen Earns National Honors
• After scoring her first-career goal against Towson, freshman Janneke van Leeuwen went on to have a breakout weekend, leading the Terps with four goals on five shots and 10 points. She gave the Terps a 1-0 lead over Princeton after the teams were deadlocked for 25 minutes. She went on to score another goal in that game and also dished out two assists. In Maryland's come-from-behind victory at No. 14 Delaware, van Leeuwen's tally tied the game at 3-3 late in the second half.
Terp Attack
• Boasting a balanced attack, 12 different Terps have tallied at least a goal with juniors Jackie Ciconte and Tiffany Marsh leading the way with eight apiece. The Maryland offense notched at least three goals in eight of its 11 games and has outscored its opponents, 49-10, so far this season. The Terps' offense ranks third in the nation as of Sept. 27 at 4.35 goals per game.
• The Terps' high-powered attack from a year ago returns intact. Ranked fourth in the nation in 2003, Maryland scored 92 goals on the season with four players scoring at least 15 goals each. Sophomore All-American Paula Infante was the team's leader with 19 tallies, followed by senior Anja Boettcher with 18. Junior All-American Jackie Ciconte contributed 17 goals and senior Colleen Barbieri, a 2002 first team All-American, knocked in 15 on the year.
Defense!
• What jumped right off the box score after the 2-0 win over Northwestern was the fact that the Maryland defense did not allow a Wildcat shot or a penalty corner for the game and it repeated that feat in the very next game vs. Towson. The Terps have allowed just two goals from Aug. 29-Sept. 17, a span of seven games. The defense also put together a streak of 191 minutes of shutout hockey, which was snapped in the win over Drexel. In the first seven games, Maryland opponents had been limited to three shots or fewer and one penalty corner or less four times.
• With six shutouts under their belt, the Terrapin defense is fourth in the nation as of Sept. 27, allowing just 0.91 goals per game.
Nifty (Hat) Trick
• When sophomore All-American Paula Infante recorded her first-career hat trick in the 7-1 win at Princeton, she became just the second current Terp to accomplish that feat. Senior Anja Boettcher scored her second-career hat trick in the 7-1 win over Drexel. She also had a hat trick when she scored three in the 7-0 victory at UMass last year on Aug. 31.
Up Next
• Maryland stays home for a pivotal ACC clash vs. Duke on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. for its only game of the week. Two of the Terps' four losses last year came at the hands of the Blue Devils, including a 4-2 loss in the 2004 NCAA Tournament semifinal game.
