Maryland Field Hockey Wins National Championship, Men's Soccer Advances to Sweet Sixteen

by Ben Broman on Nov 21, 2011 8:01 AM EST in Other Maryland Athletics

We don't spend too terribly much time on non-revs around these parts, for a variety of reasons, not least of which time constraints. But yesterday was a pretty big day for all of Maryland athletics. Like, national championship big.

That's right: Terps field hockey clinched their second-straight national championship yesterday, defeating UNC 3-2 in overtime on a Jill Whitmer goal that, frankly, looked sort of incredible watching in real time (possibly because I don't know too much about the sport, but hopefully not). Anyway, that capped a furious Maryland comeback: the Terps trailed 2-0 with four minutes to go in the game, and in fact the game-tying goal came on a penalty corner with no time on the clock.

Props and congrats go out to Maryland field hockey for making everyone over here look good. That's the fifth national title in seven years, and only further cements Missy Meharg's legendary status.

Elsewhere, men's soccer had their first match of the NCAA Tournament, easily defeating West Virginia 4-0 at Ludwig, thanks in large part to a Casey Townsend hat trick. They'll move on to face 12th-seeded Louisville, who was actually flirting with the top spot at the beginning of the season. That'll be next Sunday (the 27th) at Ludwig; hopefully the place is rocking.

(And more good news in that area: 4th-seeded Boston College, who was Maryland's potential Elite Eight opponent, was upset by Rutgers. That means that Louisville will be the toughest opposition Maryland faces until/unless they get to the Final Four.)

We do have one final sadder note: women's soccer fell to Oklahoma State in the Sweet Sixteen, 1-0. OSU was actually the higher seed going into the game and Maryland gave them a run for their money, but couldn't pull off the upset.

I'm sure I missed some other non-rev stuff - tough to keep up with 27-and-soon-to-be-19 sports, you know - so if you notice something, add it to the comments.

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Field hockey highlights.

by discuit on Nov 21, 2011 8:46 AM EST reply actions

I'll add this comment again

just to get some comment action going. Witmer’s cut, flash down the field, bumping and knocking down her defender, and 2 iron shot over the goalie from a tough angle has to be (even to this limited set of field hockey eyes) one of the best individual scoring efforts for a game winning goal ever. That was electric. I only wish we had some speed doing some damage like that on the gridiron.

"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."

by bball purist on Nov 21, 2011 8:54 AM EST reply actions

This is the third straight year that Maryland and Carolina have met for the title

Each year it has been 3-2 overtime, with Carolina winning in 2009, and Maryland winning the past two. Maryland became the first unseeded team to win (even though they were #4 in the polls). They beat #3 Syracuse, #2 Old Dominion (who beat us twice this year), before knocking off #1 Carolina. This is our 8th Field Hockey National Championship. The two winningest teams us and Old Domionion (Who has 9 titles), have never met for the title, but have met several times in the final 4.

by umcp96 on Nov 21, 2011 8:55 AM EST reply actions

thanks for the background/history on WFH

They had a lot of tenacity – I really enjoyed watching their celebration – we all love winners, don’t we?

"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."

by bball purist on Nov 21, 2011 10:53 AM EST up reply actions

Actually

Carolina won the 2009 game 3-2 ini regulation.They scored on a penalty corner with 11.9 seconds left in the game after the Terps had held a 2-1 lead for much of the second half. For me, this made tying the game on a penalty corner with no time left a bit sweeter. (For those who might not know, as in football, a half or game can’t end on a defensive penalty and only defensive penalties create penalty corners and as in soccer, the clock in field hockey essentially only stops after a goal or on a time out. So the Terps get to run the play out. The goal was a terrific shot by Jemma Buckley BTW.)

by FHFAN on Nov 21, 2011 10:55 AM EST up reply actions

First, Ben thanks for this post!

I watched the game streaming on NCCA.com and sarted a post about it immediately after the win. I only missed one Fiedl Hockey home game this year (when I was at the football team’s beatdown by Temple so guess where I should have been). After the loss in the ACC semis to Duke, I was talking with Jill and her parents and Jill said, “I hate to (expletive deleted) lose.” She and the team showed that yesterday. The shot she made in OT was a great effort but is one she would not have likely been able to make in regulation. (One amazing element of her effort is the ability to simply handle the ball the way she did. Look at the size of the blade of a hockey stick and keep in mind that you can only use the front side of the stick and it can’t touch any part of your body.) OT in field hockey is 7 on 7 regulation is 11 on 11. For a comparable goal follow the link: http://www.ncaa.com/video/archive/fieldhockey and call up the No. 2 Old Dominion dominated by Maryland and watch Megan Frazer’s goal about 12 – 15 seconds in. Missy’s substitution was brilliant. Jill is one of the 2 fastest players on the team and MD had just gained possession. It is analagous to a player coming out of the penalty box in ice hockey and getting hit with a pass out his own zone for a goal opportunity. This win is what team determination is all about. They took the loss to Duke to heart and rededicated themselves to making a deep run into the NCAAs. We can also be proud of them in the classroom. I think 5 are All Academic as well. Oh, and one more thing: Only 3 seniors on this team – one of whom couldn’t play due to an injury and was a volunteer coach and Missy has another great class coming in. It’s a tough sport to understand but can be fun to watch and it’s fast moving and free so think about coming out next fall and showing some love for your back to back national champs.

by FHFAN on Nov 21, 2011 10:50 AM EST reply actions

thx for all the info!

"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."

by bball purist on Nov 21, 2011 10:56 AM EST up reply actions

I guess now we know what the 'FH' in FHFAN is for

by NAmstrong on Nov 22, 2011 12:42 PM EST up reply actions

HCFHFan

lol

"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."

by bball purist on Nov 23, 2011 5:40 PM EST up reply actions

The ladies

Put in a ton of effort and had a ton of fight, no matter what the circumstances. It’s good to see one of our teams with a real “never give up” attitude. It’s truly a shame we can’t get the ladies to give the FBall team a pep talk and show them what it means to be a Terp.

"It’s hard to be good. It’s easy to not be good." -Coach Turgeon

by wittcap79 on Nov 21, 2011 12:27 PM EST reply actions

Brilliance confirmed

I just came from a lunch with the team and learned that Missy’s timing with Jill was intentional (not that Missy did or would boast about it). Still, she had pulled Jemma Buckley and was holding Jill’s jersey while reminding the official that MD was a player short. She sends Jill in just as Steffi Schneid controlled the ball and before NC could get their defense organized. Steffi hit Jill with a perfect pass and she was able to use her speed and stick skills to do the rest.

by FHFAN on Nov 21, 2011 3:00 PM EST reply actions