Box Score EVANSTON, Ill. – The second-ranked Maryland field hockey team controlled the ball throughout, but couldn't overcome a late score by No. 15 Northwestern and fell 3-2 at the Wildcats' Lakeside Field Saturday.
Maryland (5-2, 0-1 B1G) outshot Northwestern, 23-5 on the day and had 12 penalty corners to the Wildcats' one.
“A lot of credit to Northwestern's goalkeeper Maddy Carpenter, who had nine saves and was phenomenal on our second and third attempts after shots,” head coach Missy Meharg said. “Maryland played a really good brand of hockey but we need to be more resilient between the pipes and continue to work on that. Northwestern has different running patterns up front and Maryland did not react to them quickly enough to intercept. Typically, we are very good at that, so we were weak in that regard and will work on that.”
The Wildcats (5-3, 1-0) got on the board first when Lisa McCarthy made a penalty stroke with just about six minutes left in the first half. Northwestern took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Terrapins came out firing in the second half, as junior Anna Dessoye scored the equalizer just two minutes into the period off a pass from senior Katie Gerzabek. Just over a minute later, Northwestern's Kelley Stump scored her first of two goals on the day to retake the lead.
Freshman Moira Putsch tied the game once again for the Terrapins in the 45th minute when a rebounded shot off a penalty corner. The game stayed tied at two for 20 minutes, before Stump gave the Wildcats the gamewinner with under five minutes to play on a penalty corner.
Maryland called timeout after Northwestern's final goal and had three penalty corners in the closing minutes, but the Wildcats' defense was able to pick up saves on the plays.
Next, the Terrapins will head back west to play at No. 18 Michigan Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. and at No. 16 Michigan State on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. Both of those matchups will be shown online through BTN Plus on BTN2Go.
-Terps-
