#10 Terps Set for #12 Wildcats Friday
9/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The 10th-ranked Maryland field hockey team (3-3) will host No. 12 Northwestern (6-2) Friday at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex at 3:30 p.m. in both teams' Big Ten opener.
• Admission is free for Friday's game. Parking will be open in lot 11b, the lot directly next to the Complex, beginning at 2 p.m.
• The Terrapins will be offering $1 hot dogs at Friday's contest, while supplies last. Fans can also play Field Hockey Bingo.
• The Terps-Wildcats game will be shown live around the world on the Big Ten Network. Click here to get your channel number for BTN. BTN is available on all major video providers, including DIRECTV, Verizon FiOS, Comcast Xfinity, and about 300 additional video providers across North America. Fans can also watch on BTN2Go, or on the BTN's mobile app, and will be asked to enter their cable login information.
• International fans will be able to watch using their BTN Plus subscriptions.
• Live Stats will be available and updates will also be posted to the Maryland Field Hockey Twitter feed, so "Follow" to get updates sent straight to you.
RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW
• The Terrapins are coming off of a 6-1 win victory over American last Sunday. Senior Sarah Sprink opened the scoring with her first goal of the year off a corner 15 minutes into the match. She went on to pick up her third career hat trick. Freshmen Julie Duncan, Linnea Gonzales and sophomore Lein Holsboer also scored. RECAP | STATS
• Eight Terrapins have combined to score 20 goals so far this season. Maryland led the nation in scoring last year with 92 goals scored for an average of 4.00 per game.
• Eleven of Maryland's 20 goals have come off of penalty corners this season.
• Head coach Missy Meharg is in her 28th season as head coach of the Terrapins. She's led them to a record of 493-122-9 (.797), seven NCAA titles, 20 conference titles and 16 Final Fours. Meharg has been named NFHCA National Coach of the Year an unprecented nine times.
Scouting the wildcats
• Maryland is 13-6 all-time vs. Northwestern and 4-0 vs. the Wildcats at home at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. Maryland won their last meeting in College Park, 3-0, on Sept. 10, 2011.
• Northwestern is 6-2 so far this season. The Wildcats have won five straight games over the last two weeks. They've beaten Drexel, Central Michigan and UC Davis over the last week. Isabel Flens is leading Northwestern with eight goals so far this season.
• The Wildcats won both meetings against Maryland last year. In Evanston on Sept. 20, the Terrapins trailed by a goal twice and tied it up both times. Northwestern's Kelley Stump scored with five minutes to go to put the Wildcats ahead for good. RECAP | STATS
• The two teams met in the Big Ten Championship game in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 9. The Wildcats took the first lead 24 minutes in, then Sprink answered back off a corner two minutes later. The Wildcats went on to score twice in the second half. RECAP | STATS
Maryland in the rankings
• Maryland is ranked No. 10 in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll, released Sept. 15.
Penn Monto/Division I Coaches Preseason Poll
1. Connecticut (37)
2. Syracuse (12)
3. North Carolina
4. Virginia
5. Albany
6. Stanford
7. Duke
8. Wake Forest
9. Louisville
10. MARYLAND*
11. Boston College
12. Northwestern*
13. Liberty
14. Delaware
15. Old Dominion
16. Iowa*
17. Boston University
18. Penn State*
19. James Madison
20. Massachusetts
Three Terps Selected To Big Ten Players To Watch List
• Seniors Anna Dessoye, Sarah Sprink and freshman Linnea Gonzales were named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list in August. The full list, click HERE.
• Dessoye was named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List last year as well and made the All-Big Ten Second Team. She led the Terrapins with 19 assists last year and added 12 goals.
• Sprink earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor last season and was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team. She led Maryland in scoring last year with 16 goals.
• Gonzales, a forward from Bel Air, Md., is a member of the U.S. Under-21 Team.
2015 Team Captains
• Seniors Sarah Sprink and Kasey Tapman were voted co-captains for the 2015 season. This is Sprink's third straight season as captain for the Terrapins. She helped lead the Terps at both ends of the field last season as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and as the team's leading scorer. Tapman is a fifth-year senior that has worked to become one of the anchors of the Terrapins' defensive unit.
"Sarah's daily commitment to hard, gritty work in a high performing training enviroment make her a logical choice as captain," head coach Missy Meharg said. "She has developed to be the type of versatile leader that her teammates rely on. Kasey is the eptitomy of the word selfless both mentally and physically. On the field and off the field, she lives within the four Fs….Family, Friends, Faith, Field Hockey. She is unconditionally loyal and reliable. Both Sarah and Kasey are excellent role models for the new players. They set the tone for how we behave and what our goals are."
HOME SWEET HOME
Since its opening in 2003, the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has provided the Maryland hockey program a huge home field advantage.
• The Terps are 140-17 (.892) all-time at the Complex.
• Maryland won 38 straight games at the Complex from Oct.11, 2008 through Oct. 14, 2011. The streak ended with a 5-2 loss to then-No. 1 Old Dominion.
• The Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has played home to 24 of Maryland's NCAA Tournament games and has played host to three Final Fours (2007, 2010, 2014). The Terrapins are 22-2 in those games and won the 2010 national title on their home field.
PACK THE HOUSE
• The Maryland field hockey team has increasingly attracted more and more fans to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex season after season. The Terrapins have led the nation in attendance for the last five years - since 2010.
• In 2014, Maryland led the country in attendance with 8,707 fans coming out to see the Terrapins. On average, 670 fans came to each game.
• An NCAA-record crowd of 2,381 came out to watch as Maryland beat North Carolina 3-2 in double overtime for the 2010 national championship at the Complex.
overtime is terps time
During Missy Meharg's tenure, the Terrapins have become one of the nation's most dangerous teams in overtime.
• The Terps are 56-24 (.700) all-time in games that went to overtime or penalty strokes.
• In Meharg's tenure, the Terps are 46-20 (.697) in overtime or penalty strokes games.
-Terps-
