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Maryland came into their Friday showdown with top-15 Northwestern having lost both of their previous games against the Wildcats. If they wanted to repeat as Big Ten champions, the Terps would have to deal with Northwestern.
Northwestern
Northwestern is a solid team and they got on the board first in their tilt with Maryland. Eva van Agt notched her fifth goal of the season off of a penalty corner and the Wildcats were out in front late in the first half. After that, Anna Dessoye took over the game. She scored the equalizer with mere minutes left to play in the first half.
Early in the second half, she fed the ball to Linnea Gonzales, who scored on a fantastic back-hand shot that gave Maryland a lead that they would not relinquish. Less than a minute later, Dessoye scored on a highlight-reel worthy back-hand shot of her own that gave Maryland a 3-1 lead.
Dominique Masters had a great game for Northwestern, tallying an assist and a goal that made it 3-2, but the Wildcats couldn't find the offense late. Maryland dominated in shots (20-8) and penalty corners (9-2). They were aggressive and played inspired field hockey for a full 70 minutes.
Anna Dessoye had her fingerprints all over this win with her two goals and an assist. Sarah Holliday got the start in goal for Maryland and may have taken the lead in the goalie competition with the win.
New Hampshire
Maryland did not have a let up game against New Hampshire on Sunday. Anna Dessoye and Sarah Sprink led the way for the Terps with three goals between the two of them. The Terrapins fired away at Wildcats goalie Melissa Rize, putting up 22 shots, 16 of which were on goal.
Rize made 11 saves but she couldn't stop the dynamic Terps offense. Maryland continued to do well on penalty corners and scored their first three goals of the game off of them. UNH pulled to within two on Meg Carroll's goal early in the second half but Welma Luus responded for the Terps around five minutes later off of a feed from Julie Duncan.
Up Next:
Maryland will take on Princeton on Tuesday at home. Princeton has struggled so far this season but always manages to play the Terps close in what has become an intense rivalry.