Heading into the final day of the Big Ten Field Hockey season, No. 2 Maryland’s championship hopes hinged on two results. First, the Terps needed to stifle No. 9 Iowa’s high-octane offense in College Park. From there, it was up to No. 14 Penn State to pull off an upset against No. 1 Northwestern, who hadn’t lost a single Big Ten regular season game since 2022. Improbable, but never impossible...
Maryland Cruises to Top-10 Win
Maryland was hunting the hardware from the first whistle in Friday afternoon’s matchup with Iowa. The Terps busted out of the gates when Ella Beach connected with Maci Bradford just over a minute into the game. The duo assisted on a Francisca Eschoyez goal two minutes later, and Eschoyez found the back of the cage again towards the end of the quarter to give the Terps a 3-0 cushion.
Jordan Byers opened the second half for the Hawkeyes with an unassisted score, but Maryland snuffed the nation’s best offense the rest of the way and added two more tallies to close out a 5-1 victory. Bradford finished with a pair of goals and assists to lead the way for the Terps. Read the full story.
The Terps took care of their part; all that was left was to see if the Nittany Lions would unlock the door for Maryland to grab that Big Ten title share.
Nittany Lions Rock the Field Hockey World
Northwestern may be the four-time defending Big Ten Champion and two-time reigning national champion, but Penn State carried the conviction of a title contender into their bout with the country’s top-ranked team. The Wildcats had won 35 consecutive regular season conference matchups. There was no reason to believe that Friday wouldn’t be number 36...
Well, unless you were in the Nittany Lions’ locker room.
The teams fought for possession through the first half, but neither found the back of the cage. It wasn’t the Nittany Lions’ go-to weapons that broke through. Sophomore Cooper Cutchins scored the go-ahead goal in the third quarter before freshman Lilly Holmes buried the dagger in the final minutes to lock in the 2-0 victory.
The defensive duo had just one goal combined before Friday.
Junior goalkeeper Aby Deverka shut out one of college field hockey's most dynamic offenses in her seven-save outing to give head coach Hannah Prince the first top-ranked win of her career. Check out PSU’s story.
Back in College Park, Maryland’s student-athletes and staff jumped out of their seats and embraced one another, having earned a share of their 28th all-time conference title. The Terps’ championship notes here.
Tournament Starts Wednesday
It’s postseason time, and there’s another trophy to fight for. The Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Presented by Allstate opens with three quarterfinal matchups on B1G+:
- No. 4 seed Rutgers and No. 5 seed Indiana open the action at 11 a.m. ET. The two just faced off on Friday, when the Scarlet Knights rode a two-goal second quarter to a 2-1 victory.
- Hardware in hand, No. 2 seed Maryland faces No. 7 seed and host Ohio State at 2 p.m. ET. The Buckeyes clinched the final tournament bid with a tight 2-1 win over Michigan.
- No. 3 Penn State clashes with No. 6 seed Iowa at 5 p.m. ET, when Deverka and that triumphant Nittany Lion squad will look to stifle offensive titans Fréderique van Cleef and Dionne van Aalsum, who are tied for third in the nation with 17 goals each.
Find all the information and updates on the tournament central page.
Want to see some of college’s best postseason hockey? Grab tickets and head to Columbus for the tournament.