Nov. 18, 2011

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The fourth-ranked Maryland field hockey team (18-4) shut out No. 2 Old Dominion (22-3), 4-0, Friday night in the NCAA Semifinals in Louisville, Ky. With the win, the Terps advance to their fourth straight NCAA title game.

The Terrapins used different defensive techniques and a total team effort to stop the Monarchs.

"We're so proud of the team," head coach Missy Meharg said after the win. "Over the last three days, we needed to have a very different tactic to play Old Dominion's very stretched midfield. We have worked on that since Wednesday. The players were so disciplined in doing what we asked. We knew it was a huge gamble. Old Dominion's an incredible team and we're just so proud of Maryland."

Colleen Gulick put the Terrapins on the board with her second goal of the season in the 15th minute. Jemma Buckley cracked a shot off of a penalty corner and Gulick tipped in the rebound off the save to give Maryland a 1-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Megan Frazer dribbled into the top of the circle and drilled in a shot from the top right corner for the second Terrapins' goal. Maryland would take a 2-0 lead into the break.

Harriet Tibble and Buckley both scored within 71 seconds to push the Terps' lead to 4-0. Tibble sent in a hard shot off of a corner inserted by Katie Gerzabek in the 57th minute. Tibble stopped on the play and then cracked the shot.

A little over a minute later, Jill Witmer found Buckley in front of the goal to send in the fourth Terrapins goal with just under 12 minutes left to play.

The Monarchs took 11 shots to Maryland's eight. Old Dominion had 11 penalty corners, including nine in the second half, and to the Terps' three.

Melissa Vassalotti had six saves in the win, including four in the second half. Old Dominion keeper Devon Siefert had two.

Old Dominion beat Maryland in the two regular season meetings this year - 4-0 in Norfolk, Va. on Sept. 2 and 5-2 on Oct. 14 in College Park.

Maryland will play top-seeded North Carolina (23-1) Sunday at noon in the Championship game. It will be shown live on the NCAA.com. The Terrapins fell at North Carolina, 2-1, on Oct. 22 in the two teams' only meeting this season.

This marks the Terps' 11th appearance in the NCAA Finals. Maryland and North Carolina have met four times in the NCAA title game, including the last two straight. The Terps won two of those four meetings and beat North Carolina 2-1 in double overtime to win the 2010 NCAA crown in College Park.