No. 9 Maryland field hockey opens Big Ten Tournament with match against No. 4 Iowa

(Courtesy of Maryland Athletics)

No. 9 Maryland (8-6, 5-iii B1G) earned the No. 4 seed in the Large 10 Tournament and are facing the host team and No. five seeded Iowa (10-iv, v-3 B1G) in the Quarterfinals of the Large 10 Tournament Wednesday at ii:thirty on the Large Ten Network.

The Terps are looking to build on the momentum the team developed during final weekend'due south sweep of then-No. 6 Rutgers.

"Then excited to exist out here," head coach Missy Meharg said. "How fantastic subsequently such an interesting year for the women and certainly the staff. Information technology's just so heady for us and our players to take a chance to compete in a tournament and qualify for the NCAA Tournament."

The teams previously faced each other in the showtime of April where they split the flavor series. However, the Terps won the briefing game by a score of ane-0 allowing them to leapfrog the Hawkeyes for the fourth seed, but were shut out 2 days later by a score of 3-0.

Maryland'due south offense was particularly poor in that series, only taking ix shots overall, drawing six penalty corners between the two matches. However, defender Maura Verleg did score off one of their penalty corners. The 3-0 loss against the Hawkeyes marked Maryland's first against Iowa since 1994 and besides was the outset of 3 direct losses.

"I couldn't be happier that we are playing confronting Iowa and mostly because I believe they are a fantastic team and we didn't play our all-time brand of hockey in either of the matches," Meharg said. "We have come up a long mode since then."

All the same, in their concluding ii matches, the Terps criminal offence has found its groove taking 19 shots and earning 11 penalisation corners while scoring six goals, playing their best make of hockey all flavor.

The Terps besides need goalie Noelle Frost to continue her stellar play. In the 2 matches against the Hawkeyes, Frost recorded nine saves and in the by two games she has made 15 saves earning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Calendar week.

Inbound the tournament Maryland is in uncharted territory as the No. 4 seed, their lowest ever in the Big 10 Tournament. It'southward also the first time they are the fourth seed in any conference tournament since 2003. However, that hasn't dampened the Terps' excitement to compete in the tournament.

"Nosotros are lucky to accept this opportunity to be out there and playing," defender Riley Donnelly said. "I think it's only that more than appreciated subsequently having to wait that long amount of time during COVID not being able to compete."

Midfielder and team captain Brooke DeBerdine is a game time determination for Midweek's match after missing the last three matches with an injury.

The Terps earned multiple conference honors with Brooke DeBerdine and Donnelly named to the Outset Team All-Big X.

"I had no idea that those were existence decided this week, and so information technology wasn't fifty-fifty on my radar, only it definitely gives me actress conviction going into the tournament," Donnelly said.

Additionally, forward Bibi Donraadt was named to the Second Squad All-Big Ten and midfielder Kyler Greenwalt earned the Terps Sportsmanship Honoree.

The Hawkeyes are led by forward Maddie Murphy who has scored seven goals with two of her goals coming against the Terps in their 3-0 shutout win and midfielder Ellie Holliday who has six assists.

Iowa'southward goalie Grace McGuire has also been strong by just allowing eight goals all season, simply has allowed four goals in the by four games.

Knowing the Hawkeyes defensive prowess, the Terps will need to continue their potent offensive play of late to counteract that stifling defense. Strong offense keyed by efficient penalty corners volition be pivotal for Maryland to advance to the next round of the Large Ten Tournament.

An early go out in the Large Ten Tournament will put the Terps streak of 25 sequent NCAA Tournament appearances in jeopardy.

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Source: http://wmucsports.net/no-9-maryland-field-hockey-opens-big-ten-tournament-with-match-against-no-4-iowa/