Nov. 7, 2012

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Each week during the 2012-13 season a Maryland student-athlete, who has shown excellence on and off the playing field, will be selected as the Solomon Eye Associates Terp of the Week. This week's Solomon Eye Associates Terp of the Week is Sarah Sprink from the field hockey team. Sprink notched her first career hat trick in Maryland's win over No. 6 Virginia in the ACC Semifinals, then added a fourth score in the ACC Championship game vs. No. 1 North Carolina. She is just the fourth player in history to score four goals in a single ACC Tournament.

By Vince Barnaba | Maryland Media Relations Assistant

In less than a full season, freshman Sarah Sprink has become a key piece of the offense of the sixth-ranked Maryland field hockey team. Her quick rise to offensive leader was no more evident than in last week's ACC Tournament where she tallied four goals and was named to the All-Tournament team. It all started to come together for the rookie just in time for the postseason.

In the ACC Semifinals, Sprink led Maryland to a dominating 5-1 win over No. 6 Virginia with her first career hat trick, two off penalty corners. The win was a statement win for the Terrapins and kept them rolling into the ACC Championship game.

"We want to show everybody that we can play better than yesterday," Sprink said. "We wanted to dominate the game. The corners, we practice them a lot. I had so much adrenaline in this game. The coaches trusted in me. It was so fun."

In the ACC title game vs. UNC, the Terrapins fell 4-2, but not without a fight. Sprink put the Terps on the board to make it 2-1 with 25 minutes to play. They trailed 2-0 at the half, then surged in the second to cut it to a one-goal Tar Heels lead twice. In the second stanza, they outshot the Heels and had more saves.

The Terps awaited their NCAA Tournament fate until later in the week and now know they will be facing Lafayette College Saturday at 2 p.m. in Storrs, Conn.

"We're going to prepare for this challenge, we're going to play every game like we did in that second half [vs. North Carolina]," Sprink said.

This has been a season of adjustment for the freshman from Germany. Coming to a new country for the first time and having to face a language barrier was tough to adjust to. The adjustment was made more difficult by Sprink missing the first four games of the season to play with the German Under-21 National Team in the EuroHockey Championship in the Netherlands.

Sprink comes from a long line of smart, talented hockey players and is not the first member of her family to play for the German National Team. Her mother Elke Sprink won a world championship in 1981 and a silver medal as a member of the 1984 German Olympic team.

Since returning she has scored 11 goals which is good for second on the team in scoring. Sprink has scored goals in key games including scoring two goals against No. 1 North Carolina in the regular season matchup between the two heavyweights last month. She also scored in the team's win over No. 8 Old Dominion.

Sprink has becoming a larger and larger scoring threat as the season has gone on. Sprink became just the fourth player to score four goals in an ACC Tournament as she led Maryland to the title game. Sprink did this in front of her mother, who made her first trip to the United States to watch her daughter in action for Maryland in person.