Coming off a disappointing 2011 season, Coach Tim Horsmon and the Maryland Volleyball squad had reason for optimism when they took the court for the first time in 2012. The team was healthy and had a strong recruiting class. And the Terps indeed got off to a solid start sweeping three matches in a tournament at Villanova to open their season slate. They didn't fare quite as well in The Pavilion at Comcast Center dropping two of three matches in each of the next two tournaments including one to eventual B1G foe Ohio State and NCAA participants Binghampton and Tennessee. The most painful loss, though, was dropping their ACC opener to Boston College a team perennially near the bottom of the league standings. They regained their footing a bit taking five of the next seven matches in a stretch that saw them go 2-2 in ACC play. Then the injury bug that had struck during that streak caught up with them as outside hitters Mary Cushman and rising freshman Kamrin Gold were sidelined as the Terps suffered through a six match losing streak. The team gradually returned to health and found a new budding star in freshman Kelsey Hrebenach finishing the season on a positive note winning seven of their last ten to finish 8-12 in ACC play and with an overall winning record for the second time in Horsmon's five year tenure. Maryland was led by sophomore star Ashleigh Crutcher who was the only Terrapin named to the All-ACC squad and who also received AVCA All-Region honors as well as being named an honorable mention All-American. In addition to those on court accolades, Crutcher along with Cushman, Emily Fraik and Adreene Elliott earned places on the All-ACC Academic Volleyball team.
The Terrapin women's soccer squad took their number 13 pre-season ranking on the road for four games to open the 2012 season. They emerged from that stretch having defeated local foes Navy and George Mason while tying Villanova and dropping a 1-0 decision at Ohio State. After routing Towson in the home opener, the Terps traveled to Alabama for another big win on the road. They entered ACC play with a record of 4-2-1 after dropping a game at home to Fordham where despite launching 29 shots were unable to find the net. Coach Jonathan Morgan's squad launched themselves into ACC play going 4-0-1 in their first five league games and moving up to number ten in the country. The Terps dropped another 1-0 decision in a game at Virginia Tech but rallied for three consecutive wins that propelled them to a number five national ranking. A 1-0 overtime loss to Miami in which junior forward Haley Brock received a red card likely contributed to a second straight 1-0 loss to top ranked Florida State to close the regular season three days later. The Terps avenged the loss to the Hurricanes in the quarter finals of the ACC Tournament with a 2-1 overtime win before eventually dropping the title game to Virginia. After winning their opening round game, Maryland traveled to Denver where they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Pioneers who had tied the game on a late penalty kick. The Terps failed to place anyone on the All-ACC first team but senior Becky Kaplan joined Brock as second team All-ACC performers. Freshman Ashley Spivey won a spot on the All-Freshman team.
Sasho Cirovski opened his twentieth season as Maryland's men's soccer head coach with a squad ranked ninth in the national pre-season polls and picked as the favorite to win the ACC title. The Terps took on Louisville in their regular season opener and gained a measure of revenge for their loss in the 2011 NCAA Tournament by shutting out the seventh ranked Cardinals 3-0. That win moved Marylad to number six in the polls and the Terrapins continued their northward climb going 4-0-1 over the next five games in a stretch that included a tie with eleventh ranked UCLA and road wins at number 24 Boston College and number 18 NC State. When the Virginia Tech Hokies came to College Park, the Terps were the top ranked team in the land. And, indeed, they lived up to that billing winning seven straight before a much anticipated match up in College Park with the second ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. In a game that started in a drenching rain but that eventually lived up to the hype of one versus two, freshman Schillo Tshuma scored the only goal of the night in the second overtime. The Terps dropped their last regular season game at Wake Forest before going on to win their third ACC Tournament Championship in five years taking the title at the Montgomery Soccerplex in Germantown by defeating the Tar Heels 2-1. Their strong regular season earned Maryland a bye in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and let the Terps host games through the quarter final round. Maryland swept those games ending Louisville's season en route to the Final Four where the Terps would fall to Georgetown on penalty kicks. Junior forward Patrick Mullins loaded up his trophy case winning ACC Offensive Player of the Year, being named an All-American, being named Soccer America's Player of the Year and taking home the Mac Hermann Trophy presented to the top player in NCAA Men's Division I soccer. Mullins wasn't the only Terrapin carting home some post season hardware, though. Senior John Stertzer was named to the All-ACC first team while two seniors - Taylor Kemp and London Woodberry - and two freshmen - Schillo Tschuma Mikey Ambrose were named second team All-Acc. The latter two also earned berths on the All-Freshman team. Oh, and as for Coach Cirovski, he took home ACC Coach of the Year.
Like their stadium mates, Maryland's field hockey starts every season expecting to compete for a national championship. (Y'all really didn't think FHFAN was going to leave field hockey out of the mix, did you?) The 2012 edition with eight seniors including reigning Honda Award winner Megan Frazer, uber coach Missy Meharg entering her 25th season at the helm, and back to back national championships to their name certainly had every reason to anticipate another title run and were the top ranked team in the pre-season polls. In a possible harbinger of the season to come, the Terps traveled to the west coast to take on two ranked foes - California and Stanford - to open the season. They managed two wins but struggled a bit in both edging Cal 2-1 and needing two overtimes to secure a 3-2 win over the Cardinal. Returning East, the Terrapins dropped their home opener to perennial power Old Dominion before getting back on track by winning five in a row and starting their ACC slate with wins over Boston College and Wake Forest. The Terps split their next two before another portentous loss 3-2 at Princeton. They rattled off four consecutive wins before facing arch rival and top-ranked UNC at home falling in an epic 4-3 overtime loss. Another four game winning streak led to another showdown with the Tar Heels in the ACC Championship game and unfortunately for Coach Meharg and her team, another loss. Still, an ACC Tournament loss in 2011 didn't derail the Terps from defending their 2010 national championship so the squad likely went into the NCAA Tournament with some confidence. Maryland earned another trip to the Final Four with wins in Storrs over Lafayette and Connecticut before falling on an overtime penalty shot to the eventual national champion Princeton Tigers. Senior Megan Frazer was named a first team All-American and fellow senior Harriet Tibble and junior Jill Witmer earned spots as second team All-Americans. All three were also feted with All-ACC honors as well.