COLLEGE PARK, Md. – As the time changes on Sunday, so too do the seasons for Maryland athletics. Fall teams are wrapping up regular season play and prepping for the post-season, while winter sports are getting ready to kick things off. This week in the notebook we will take a look at both, plus much more.
Another Year, Another Title
Congratulations to head coach Missy Meharg and the Maryland field hockey team on clinching at least a share of the 2015 regular season Big Ten championship.
The Terps earned the honor with their 1-0 overtime win over Indiana on Oct. 23. Maryland dominated the run of play, out-shooting the Hoosiers 28-9 (including a shots-on-goal advantage of 19-3). But Maryland couldn't get a shot past Indiana goalie Noelle Rother, who made 16 saves in the losing effort. That is until the 78th minute when senior Anna Dessoye tipped in a pass from fifth-year senior Welma Luus.
The victory gave the Terps their second Big Ten title in as many years in the conference. Maryland can claim the Big Ten title outright on Saturday, Oct. 31 when it plays at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are currently 9-8 on the season and 2-5 in Big Ten play.
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The Terrapins closed out their regular-season home schedule with a 6-0 victory over Towson on Sunday, Oct. 25. Prior to the game the team's eight seniors were recognized: Faye Curran, Dessoye, Jill Genovese, Shari Jones, Luus, Alyssa Parker, Sarah Sprink and Kasey Tapman.
This senior class is a remarkable 74-15 (.831) over the past four years and helped Maryland win three regular-season conference titles, one conference tournament championship and two Final Four appearances.
They will have a chance to add to their legacy this week in Iowa and then next week at the Big Ten tournament in Bloomington, Ind. (Nov. 5-8). Should the Terps defeat the Hawkeyes, their first round opponent in the Big Ten tournament would be Michigan State. The Spartans have finished conference play and are 2-6, but they would end up as the No. 8 seed by virtue of a 3-1 loss at Iowa on Oct. 16.
The first round of the Big Ten field hockey tournament will be streamed on BTN2Go, while the semifinals and championship will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Men's Soccer Has Eyes On The Prize
The Maryland men's soccer team is another squad that has its sights set on another Big Ten title, but the Terps have some work to do to get there.
Maryland is currently in third place in the Big Ten standings, behind conference-leader Rutgers and Ohio State.
The good news is that the Terrapins control their own fate.
The Scarlet Knights have 12 points to lead the conference, but only have one game left on its Big Ten schedule – and that happens to be at Ludwig Field on Thursday, Nov. 4.
In addition to the match vs. the Scarlet Knights, Maryland also plays the Buckeyes, but that one is at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus on Halloween night.
If Maryland were to win both of those matches they would have 15 points and could claim the Big Ten regular season title for the second-straight season.
The “could” comes in the form of Northwestern, which could also get to 15 points if it defeats Penn State and Wisconsin in its final two Big Ten matches. The Nittany Lions and Badgers are among the bottom three teams in the conference standings at the moment, but the Wildcats have to travel to University Park, Pa., and Madison, Wisc.
If the Terps and Wildcats both win out, Northwestern would hold the tie-breaker over Maryland thanks to its 2-1 win in overtime in College Park on Oct. 2.
Maryland is heading into the homestretch with some momentum with a 1-0 shutout of then-No. 17 Washington on Oct. 23 at Ludwig Field. Freshman forward Sebastian Elney provided the goal, but it was the Terrapin defense that stood out, holding the Huskies to just seven shots, none of which were on frame. Keeper Cody Niedermeier didn't even have to register a save to pick up his sixth shutout of the season.
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Winter Sports Set To Begin
While we're still a little more than a week away from the first exhibition game for the Maryland men's basketball team, the winter sport season officially kicks off this Sunday, Nov. 1 with the Terrapin wrestling team hosting the Terrapin Duals in the XFINITY Center Pavilion, beginning with a match vs. Pittsburgh at 11:45 a.m.
Maryland will also grapple with Buffalo at 1:30 p.m. and Davidson at 3:15 p.m.
Head coach Kerry McCoy's squad had the unofficial start to his team's season this past Sunday with the annual Red-Black Wrestle-Offs.
While some notable Terps were out for the Wrestle-Offs, Maryland fans saw some exciting bouts in the eight-match main card that saw six freshmen or redshirt-freshmen get their hands raised. Included among those was highly touted redshirt freshman Alfred Bannister, who came out with a one-point victory over redshirt junior Billy Rappo at 133 points.
Fans can get their first look at the Maryland women's basketball team this Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Terrapins host Goldey-Beacom.
Head coach Brenda Frese's squad is an even mix across the classes with four seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen.
Among those four juniors are guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the 2015 Spokane NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and honorable mention All-American, and center Brionna Jones, an All-Big Ten selection in 2015.
Freshmen have been impactful under Frese (fans will certainly remember how Crystal Langhorne, Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver did in their first season in College Park) and the two freshmen on this Maryland roster are ones Terp fans should keep their eyes on. High school All-Americans Kiah Gillespie and Brianna Fraser each have good size and were the No. 2 and No. 3 freshman forwards in the nation, respectively, according to ESPN.
This will be the first of two exhibition games for the Terps, who host Indiana (Pa.) next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Quick Hitters
• Stefon Diggs is becoming a weekly feature here in the Notebook and for good reason. The rookie wide receiver continues to impress with Minnesota and helped the Vikings complete a come-from-behind victory over NFC North rival Detroit on Sunday.
Diggs led the Vikings with six receptions for a career-best 108 yards, marking his first 100-yard receiving game as a pro. Diggs' afternoon was punctuated with his first NFL touchdown, which came on an amazing leaping grab that gave the Vikings their first lead of the game.
• The Maryland women's soccer team wrapped up its 2015 home schedule with Senior Night on Saturday. Prior to the match vs. Wisconsin, head coach Jonathan Morgan and the Terps honored seniors Rachelle Beanlands, Riley Barger, Shannon Collins, Erika Joab, Amanda Gerlitz, Sarah Molina, Maisie McCune and Kayla Shea.
The Terps complete their 2015 season tonight at Nebraska. You can watch that match on BTN2Go with a BTN Plus subscription.
• Congratulations to head coach Steve Aird and the Maryland volleyball team on picking up its first Big Ten victory on Saturday over Rutgers in College Park. Senior Adreené Elliott posted her first career double-double (19 kills, 10 digs) to lead the Terps, who also got a 13-kill performance from Liz Twilley and a 23-dig outing from Kelsey Wicinski.
While the soccer and field hockey seasons are winding down, the volleyball team still has 10 matches left in 2015 with road matches at Iowa and Nebraska on tap for this weekend.
• Thank you to the 68,948 fans who came out to watch the Maryland football team take on Penn State in the “Battle In Baltimore” on Saturday.
Maryland rallied from a 17-13 halftime deficit to take a 27-24 lead into the fourth quarter, but Nittany Lion quarterback Christian Hackenberg's third touchdown pass of the afternoon proved to be the difference in Penn State pulling out a 31-30 victory.
Brad Craddock went 3-of-4 on field goal attempts (with the only miss coming on a 51-yarder in the 2nd quarter). Craddock' made field goals of 44, 27 and 29 yards give him more than 2,000 yards of made field goals for his Terrapin career. In the past four seasons Craddock has totaled 2,019 yards, which is more than a mile of field goals (6,057 feet – a mile is 5,280 feet).
Terrapin fans also saw quarterback Perry Hills become the first Maryland player to rush for more than 100 yards in consecutive games since C.J. Brown did it in 2011.
Fans also saw cornerback William Likely lining up in the backfield on offense. The dynamic athlete carried the ball four times for 30 yards – an impressive 7.5 yards-per-carry average. Throw in four receiving yards, 100 yards on kickoff returns and 24 punt return yards and Likely totaled a game-high 158 all-purpose yards.
• The feedback on the Terps' Flashback jerseys that they wore vs. the Nittany Lions was overwhelmingly positive. If you weren't able to take advantage of the umterps.com Auction don't worry. Just keep an eye on the Team Issued Gear Store in the near future.
• Good luck to coach Andrew Valmon's cross country team at the Big Ten Championships this coming Sunday in Evanston, Ind.
• Last, but certainly not least, congratulations to Maryland Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson on his recent induction into the San Francisco State University Alumni Hall of Fame.
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Wrapping Up
That's it for this edition of the umterps Notebook. Don't forget to follow Maryland athletics on all of the social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Patrick Fischer is the Director of Digital Media and Website Management for the University of Maryland Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Maryland athletics department or its athletics programs.
