CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  –  A strong second half effort fell just short as the second-ranked Maryland field hockey team fell at No. 23 Virginia, 3-1, Sunday afternoon in the Terps' regular season finale.
 
The Terrapins (16-2) controlled most of the second half with nine shots in the final period, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Cavaliers' early scores in the opening minutes.
 
"We came out not as strong as we would have liked," head coach Missy Meharg said. "Virginia came out ready to pounce and they did. I thought we played a much better game in the second half, but we need to start like that. I think we have some good things to take out of this as we move into the Big Ten Tournament."
 
The Wahoos' Greer Gill scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the game to open a 2-0 lead.
 
Just 6:52 into the match, Gill buried a goal off a rebounded shot for the first score. Just under 2:00 later, Gill tipped in another shot off a penalty corner to make it a two-goal lead for Virginia (7-8).
 
Senior tri-captain Linnea Gonzales put Maryland on the board when she banged in a shot off a penalty corner 4:24 into the second half.
 
Virginia added its third goal with 9:46 to play. Anzel Viljoen tipped in a shot off a corner. The play was reviewed and the call stayed.
 
Maryland pulled goalkeeper Sarah Holliday with 8:35 remaining in the game in favor of an extra field player. Sophomore Bodil Keus served as kicking back. The Terrapins gave up five penalty corners in the final minutes and Keus made three defensive saves.
 
Gonzales is leading Maryland with 13 goals this season and she is currently at 98 career points. Maryland has 10 scorers with multiple goals and 13 total Terps have found the goal line.
 
Next, the Terrapins will open play in the Big Ten Tournament next weekend. The Terps will play either the 9-seed Michigan State or the 8-seed Indiana Sunday afternoon in College Park. Updated game time for Sunday and matchup information will be available on umterps.com. Full Big Ten Tournament information can be found here.
 
DEFLECTIONS… Maryland leads the all-time series with Virginia, 41-21-2…The Terrapins are 26-4 over their last 30 games, dating back to last year's NCAA title game run… The Terps are now 218-71 against ranked teams since 1999, including 70-23 on the road… Head coach Missy Meharg is now 559-137-9 (.799) in her 31 years at the helm of the Terps.