A Fourth Quarter Awakening Brings Maryland The Win
Zachary Wilson
Continuing their undefeated start to the season, the #4 Terrapins welcomed #6 ranked Penn Quakers into Capital One Field. Prior to this meeting, Maryland had won all 15 of their previous matches against Penn, a streak they intended to keep as they returned home from their overtime victory at Richmond on February 8th.
The first quarter was marked by Penn’s constant aggression on offense and Maryland’s lack of possession. The Terps had consistent struggles on face-offs, and on defense they would give up 8 goals, one coming at the buzzer from Junior Penn attacker Sean Lulley (Lulley would finish with 4 goals and 2 assists). Maryland, however, would take advantage of the few possessions they had, scoring 5 and keeping Penn within striking distance.
Penn would keep that energy going forward into the second quarter, adding 4 more goals and showing dominant presence on the face off X. By the end of the half, 3 separate Penn players would have hat tricks, a testament to their punishing power off of UMD turnovers. Jared Bernhardt kept the Hard Shells in the game, scoring 4 in the first half alone and playing as a magician near the crease. UMD still found themselves down by 3 heading into the break.
Coming out of the locker room Maryland were stronger defensively, limiting Penn to only 3 goals in the third quarter. The Terps, sadly, could not consistently put offensive pressure on the Quakers, only tallying 2 goals of their own in the third as well as some sloppy turnovers. The Terrapins, however, did turn things around on face offs this quarter, as Justin Shockey began to adjust into the role and go an even 3-3 with Penn on the X.
The fourth quarter saw a huge momentum swing for Maryland, starting the session off on a 5-0 scoring run after their 2 goals to end the third. Even their faceoffs, which looked like a glaring weakness in the first half, went to the side of UMD in this quarter as Shockey was able to go 5-2 on the Quakers from the jump. Daniel Maltz took complete control of MD scoring late, netting 4 of his 5 total goals for the Terps in the second half. Penn looked wholly unable to keep up with the Terps depth, and it became clear as the Quakers lost their offensive presence that was so dangerous in the first three quarters.
In a similar scene to their last game against Richmond, the Terps overcame a hefty deficit to win the fight late and remain undefeated. As for their next opponent, UMD will face no slouch in Villanova, a high-powered offense that will test the ferocity of Maryland’s defense.
Maryland’s Top Terps:
Daniel Maltz-As Maryland’s top scorer, Maltz proved to be miraculous in the second half when it seemed as though UMD was going to continue their slump from the first half. His 5 goals came from only 6 shots, the most efficient numbers from anyone on the field this afternoon.
Justin Shockey-As stated, Shockey did not start this game off particularly well from the face off X. Nonetheless, Shockey’s adjustments later in the game would take Maryland from 9-13 in the first half to 7-5 in the second. As Shockey kept winning his face offs, Maryland kept striking in goals and formulating their comeback.
No comments have been posted yet, be the first!
Post a comment by filling out the form below.
