Warrior In Goal

Her jersey says she's No. 1 for Maryland, but she'll also be first to take the field for the 2025 U.S. U-21 Women's National Team. 

For the second time in three years, Alyssa Klebasko will be playing for more than just a school or a state; she'll be playing for her country. 

The junior Terrapin goalkeeper and her teammate, forward Maci Bradford, are in Asunción, Paraguay, for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games before Maryland's 2025 season gets started on Aug 29. 

Maryland field hockey head coach Missy Meharg describes her goalkeeper as genuine, bright, selfless, under the radar, and one of her top student-athletes.

"Her hockey IQ matches her grade point average," she said. 

But she's more than all of that; she's a warrior.

Klebasko is no stranger to battles, especially in dire situations. At age six, she was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), a disease that completely uprooted her childhood and sparked a position change to goalkeeper, where she found a successful home. 

ALL is a type of cancer, typically found more in children, that affects a person's blood and bone marrow. It's a disease that, if left untreated, can rapidly spread and worsen. While ALL has a high cure rate amongst children, it forced Klebasko to be a fierce competitor at an early age.

She beat it. More than that, she never let it slow her down. 

Growing up in Odenton, Maryland, she was a regular attendee of Terrapin games, even serving as a ball girl on several occasions. 

Meharg knew Klebasko growing up and watched her career with great interest, but wasn't aware of her medical struggles until after Klebasko had already left ALL in her rearview. 

"I've watched Alyssa since she put on her pads," Meharg said. "She's been an incredible goalkeeper since she was nine or 10 years old."

After emerging victorious against the most dire stakes, collegiate and international field hockey don't seem as daunting. In 2023, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of playing for Coach Meharg and the University of Maryland. 

"I don't really think I ever thought of her not coming here, so I don't recall ever having to recruit her," Meharg said. "To be honest, it was a vibe. It was 'She's a Terp'. Her mother and father are Terps. It would have completely shocked me if she even looked to seriously go someplace else."

The only other places she'd go would be internationally to represent something bigger than herself or her school.

The invitation from the 2025 U.S. U-21 Women's National Team came with a second offer: the chance to bear the American flag at the opening ceremony. She'll have the pride of 50 states (and, of course, Washington, DC) in her hands over 4,600 miles from College Park. 

Meharg said the current coach of the U-21 U.S. Women's National Team, Ange Bradley, reached out to her about the idea for Klebasko to bear the U.S. flag at the opening ceremony. Bradley, a former assistant to Meharg at Maryland, had heard of Klebasko's story and thought there was no better emblem of strength and resiliency than her. Meharg agrees. 

"She's a survivor in every way," she said. "Her heart, her mind, her body. She's had some small injuries that she's taken such grand care of. She's a professional athlete."

Photos courtesy of USA Field Hockey

Part of that professionalism stems from a familiarity with travel. Despite playing for several international squads and stacking medals, Klebasko stays incredibly rooted in Maryland. 

"She's got great parenting," Meharg said. "They're local and they love and eat and breathe the great state of Maryland. So, in that regard, she's just home all the time."

Throughout her young collegiate career, she's already collected several impressive accolades. She accumulated back-to-back Big Ten All-Second team and Big Ten All-Tournament Team nods and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice in 2024. 

"She's been incredible. She just literally kept us in games."

She's a leader, a mentor, and the epitome of what it means to be a Terp.

"She brings a very sophisticated, mature kind of atmosphere to the locker room, which is needed in college sports."

She's always been around change. Whether it be the constant travel of international teams or the three different goalkeeping coaches she's learned from in her three years at Maryland, she's found incredible consistency. Repetitive coaching turnover can be detrimental to some athletes, but Meharg says it's actually made Klebasko better. 

"What I love about her is she has just found the greatest in all of those goalkeeping leaders because she's flexible-minded and she's really good."

Klebasko got to know former Maryland goalkeeper and coach Noelle Frost through Freedom Field Hockey, an organization that's become a goalkeeping pipeline for Meharg. Freshman Ryleigh Osborne is also a product of Freedom and a girl Klebasko's taken under her wing. 

"She really takes care of all of the younger players when they come on campus," Meharg said. "She loves to showcase Maryland, so into recruiting and it's an honor for her to be here. She's entitled to nothing and she's grateful for everything."

Meharg mentioned bringing Klebasko in at the same time that center back Josie Hollamon joined the program. Klebasko in net and Hollamon at center back make up Meharg's "king and queen" of her defense. 

But defensive consistency has to stem from fierce goalkeeping, something Klebasko provides on the daily. Whether she's battling her health, the odds, Big Ten opponents, or international competition, there may not be a more resilient or reliable Terp than the one between the pipes.