COLLEGE PARK, Md. – No. 2 Maryland field hockey's offense cruised to a 9-2 victory over Columbia Saturday in the first game of the Terrapin Invitational in College Park.
The Terrapins (5-0) led 9-0 as they held the Lions (2-1) scoreless through 58 minutes. Three players – Brooke Adler, Delaney Leathers and Emma Rissinger – scored their first career goals in the win. The
“We just have a luxury,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “We've got a lot of very fast players so when you have that type of speed in the front half of the field it just makes it so exciting for the staff, for the players, for the fans. I mean the game is just so fast paced, I think that when you're able to watch that type of interchanging, synergy and goal scoring, it's fun to watch, it's very exciting.”
The Terps' offense got firing in a hurry, with sophomore Alyssa Parker and junior Maxine Fluharty each scoring in the fourth minute. Both took it in themselves and scored. Fluharty notched her second score of the game less than four minutes later when she got a stick on Sarah Sprink's shot off a penalty corner to make it a 3-0 lead.
Just under 17 minutes into the game, senior Jill Witmer made it 4-0 when she brought in sophomore Anna Dessoye's pass from the left side. She scored as Columbia keeper Kimberly Piannucci came out to stop the play.
In the 27th minute, junior Welma Luus cracked a hard shot from the top left side of the circle for a 5-0 lead at halftime. Parker fed her for the assist.
Leathers notched her goal off of Ali McEvoy's rebounded shot on a penalty corner play in the 46th minute. Leathers inserted on the corner, then was in the perfect position for the putback to make it 6-0. Five minutes later, Witmer added her second goal to go up 7-0.
Less than two minutes after that, Adler took a pass from Luus for the Terps' eighth goal, then Rissinger scored just over a minute after that for a nine-goal lead.
Columbia got on the board with 12 minutes to play when Leah Matthews tipped in a shot off a penalty corner. Lindsey Walter added the Lions' second goal with 1:55 left in the game.
Maryland goalkeepers Natalie Hunter and Brooke Cabrera each played a half and each notched two saves. The Lions' Pianucci picked up 13 saves.
Next, the Terrapins will take on Miami (Ohio) at 2 p.m. Sunday, with Columbia playing American at noon. Admission and parking are free for the weekend. Live stats will be available for all games at UMTerps.com. Maryland's games can be heard online for free via Maryland's campus station, WMUCSports.wordpress.com. Live updates will be available at @TerpFieldHockey.
For full information on the weekend, log on to http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=751510&SPID=120737&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=209257510.
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