University of Maryland Athletics

#3 Maryland to Host Rutgers on Senior Day

Field Hockey Maryland Athletics

#3 Maryland to Host Rutgers on Senior Day

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The third-ranked Maryland field hockey team (14-3, 6-1 B1G) will close the regular season Saturday with a game vs. Rutgers (9-7, 2-5) at 1 p.m. at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. With a win, the Terrapins will win their third straight Big Ten regular season title outright. Admission and parking are both free.

• The Terrapins will recognize their five seniors - Grace Balsdon, Courtney Deena, Delaney Leathers, Welma Luus and Emma Rissinger - prior to the match. Together, they've earned a record of 74-13. This class has played in a Final Four, won an ACC title and three Big Ten titles.

• Fans can join the Terps for Spooky Saturday and the first 50 fans will receive a Maryland witch hat. The Terrapins will also be signing autographs after the game. Click here for more on the Terps' gameday promotions.

• The Maryland-Rutgers game will be streamed live on the BTN2Go app, which is the official app of the Big Ten Network. It will be a BTN Plus production and will require an additional subscription. Fans can access all Big Ten content on BTN Plus for $119.95 per year or a $14.95 monthly subscription. A Maryland School Pass for BTN Plus, which includes all Terrapin contests, home and away, on BTN Plus for $79.95 per year or for a $9.95 monthly subscription.

• Fans outside of the U.S. will be able to watch here, 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 Terps beat three top 10 teams in the last week. They won at then-No. 5 Penn State, 5-4 on Oct. 16, beat then-No. 1 Connecticut, 2-1 Sunday and No. 8 Virginia, 2-1 Tuesday. Against the Cavaliers, Linnea Gonzales and Madison Maguire scored and Sarah Bates notched a career-high eight saves. RECAP | STATS

• Maryland is ranked No. 3 in the latest RPI rankings, available here.

Welma Luus leads Maryland with 13 goals, Grace Balsdon has 12, Gonzales has nine and Emma Rissinger has five, giving the Terps one of the most balanced attacked in the country.

• Balsdon was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday for the third time this season.

Scouting the scarlet knights

• Rutgers is 9-7 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play. Most recently, the Scarlet Knights beat Richmond, 2-0, last weekend.

• Nikki Santore and Linde van Schaik lead the Scarlet Knights with eight goals each.

• Maryland leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 27-3-1, and has won the last 10 straight matchups, dating back to 1999. The Terps are 5-0 vs. the Scarlet Knights at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

• The Terps won last year's meeting 4-0 on Oct. 18 in Piscataway. Luus had a hat trick and Carrie Hanks also scored. RECAP | STATS

• Fifth-year Rutgers head coach Meredith (Long) Civico is a Maryland field hockey alum. Long played for head coach Missy Meharg in 2003 and 2005 and was a member of the 2005 NCAA title team.

Terps in the B1G

• The Terrapins joined the Big Ten conference in 2014, after playing in the ACC for 31 years. Big Ten field hockey is the largest conference in the history of the sport in the NCAA with nine teams - Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers and Maryland.

• The Terps are 108-34-3 (.755) all-time against Big Ten opponents.

• Head coach Missy Meharg is 91-14-1 (.863) vs. Big Ten opponents in her 29 years at the helm of the Maryland field hockey program.

• The Terrapins are 32-1 (.970) vs. Big Ten teams at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. They have won 22 straight matchups at home vs. Big Ten teams, dating back to 2008. Penn State is the only Big Ten team to win at the Complex with a 1-0 victory on Nov. 11, 2007.

• The Terrapins won the first Big Ten title for the University of Maryland with a 4-1 win over No. 14 Iowa on Nov. 1, 2014 in College Park.

• Maryland defended its first Big Ten title when it clinched the 2015 regular season crown with a 1-0 overtime win vs. Indiana on Oct. 23.

• The Terrapins won their first Big Ten Tournament title with a 5-1 win over second-seeded and 10th-ranked Michigan on Nov. 8 in the final. Welma Luus scored four goals in the match and broke a Tournament record with seven in the three-game run.

Maryland in the top ten

• Maryland is ranked No. 3 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches poll released Tuesday. The Terrapins have been ranked in the top 5 in 168 of 189 polls, dating back to 1999.

• The Terrapins have started the year in the top 10 in each of the last 18 years, since 1999.

• Click here for the latest NFHCA poll.

Three Terps Selected To Big Ten Players To Watch List

• Sophomore Linnea Gonzales, junior Lein Holsboer and redshirt senior Welma Luus were named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list before the start of the season. The full list, click here.

• This marks Gonzales' second straight year on the conference's Preseason Watch List. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last year and also earned NFHCA Third Team All-America honors. Gonzales scored 10 goals with three assists in her rookie season.

• Luus also earned All-Big Ten and NFHCA Third Team All-America honors last year. She led the Terrapins in scoring with 20 goals on the year. Luus helped lead the Terps to the Big Ten tournament title with seven goals in the three-game tournament run.

• Holsboer added six goals, three game winners, and 11 assists in helping the Terps to a 19-4 record and their second straight Big Ten championship.

staff updates

• The Terrapins welcome two new assistant staff members in 2016. Stefanie Fee joins the staff as an assistant coach and Joann Engestrom joins as a volunteer assistant coach.

• Fee played at Duke from 2008-11 and helped the Blue Devils to a pair of NCAA Quarterfinals appearances as a four-year starter on defense. She earned NFHCA Second Team All-America honors in 2011. She is a member of the U.S. national team and competed in the Olympics in Rio this summer.

• Engestrom played at Temple, where she graduated in 2005. She earned Regional All-American, All-Atlantic 10, and All-America East Conference honors during her time with the Owls. In 2003, Engestrom played on the U-23 Junior National Team and the U.S. National Team, training for the 2004 Olympics. Engestrom helped to restructure the Washington Wolves Hockey Club in 2007.

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 155-17 (.901) 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 in five of the last six years.

• 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.

terps on national teams

• Ten Terrapins, former and present, are currently on USA Field Hockey's national team rosters. 

• Katie O'Donnell Bam is a two-time Olympian. Bam and Jill Witmer competed with Team USA in the Rio Olympics this past summer. Bam led Team USA with five goals.  Ali McEvoy is also a member of the U.S. Senior National Team.

• Junior Carrie Hanks and sophomore Linnea Gonzales are on the U.S. Under-21 Team. Lizzy Dessoye and Kelee Lepage are on the U.S. Under-19 Team.

• Recent Terp alums Anna Dessoye, Alyssa Parker and current senior Delaney Leathers are members of the U.S. National Team system, as alums of the U.S. Under-21 Team.

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 61-24 (.718) all-time in games that went to overtime or penalty strokes.

• In Meharg's tenure, the Terps are 50-20 (.714) in overtime or penalty strokes games.

-Terps-
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Players Mentioned

Welma Luus

Welma Luus

Freshman
Courtney Deena

#20 Courtney Deena

F/M
5' 2"
Freshman
Anna Dessoye

#17 Anna Dessoye

M
5' 6"
Sophomore
Lein Holsboer

#22 Lein Holsboer

M
5' 8"
Freshman
Delaney Leathers

#11 Delaney Leathers

M
5' 2"
Freshman
Welma Luus

#15 Welma Luus

F
5' 8"
Junior
Alyssa Parker

#8 Alyssa Parker

F/M
5' 4"
Sophomore
Emma Rissinger

#7 Emma Rissinger

F
5' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
Jill Witmer

#10 Jill Witmer

F
5' 2"
Senior
Carrie Hanks

#3 Carrie Hanks

D
5' 7"
Freshman
Sarah Bates

#21 Sarah Bates

GK
5' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Linnea Gonzales

#10 Linnea Gonzales

F/M
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Welma Luus

Welma Luus

Freshman
Courtney Deena

#20 Courtney Deena

5' 2"
Freshman
F/M
Anna Dessoye

#17 Anna Dessoye

5' 6"
Sophomore
M
Lein Holsboer

#22 Lein Holsboer

5' 8"
Freshman
M
Delaney Leathers

#11 Delaney Leathers

5' 2"
Freshman
M
Welma Luus

#15 Welma Luus

5' 8"
Junior
F
Alyssa Parker

#8 Alyssa Parker

5' 4"
Sophomore
F/M
Emma Rissinger

#7 Emma Rissinger

5' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
F
Jill Witmer

#10 Jill Witmer

5' 2"
Senior
F
Carrie Hanks

#3 Carrie Hanks

5' 7"
Freshman
D
Sarah Bates

#21 Sarah Bates

5' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
GK
Linnea Gonzales

#10 Linnea Gonzales

5' 9"
Freshman
F/M