No. 16 Penn State field hockey (5-5, 0-2 Big Ten) was defeated by No. 8 Maryland (8-3, 1-1 Big Ten) 4-1. It was a poor defensive performance by the Nittany Lions who dug themselves in a hole they couldn’t come back from.

Maryland came out swinging and scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game and added another late in the third quarter. Penn State couldn’t recover and fell to 5-5 on the season.

How It Happened

Right away, the Terrapins came ready to play and did that with an early goal. Three minutes into the game, Maci Bradford scored her fifth goal of the season for a 1-0 Maryland lead.

In the second quarter, once again, Maryland answered early on. Josie Hollamon followed up a failed shot on a penalty corner with a strike into the back of the net for the second Terrapins goal of the game. Four minutes later, Maryland added a third goal, this time a strike by Hope Rose after a penalty corner.

Maryland played great defense for the remainder of the quarter and went into the half leading Penn State 3-0.

The second half began and it was more of the same from Maryland. Its defense continued to lock all windows and doors against Penn State and allowed only one shot for the first 14 minutes of the quarter. On top of that, Hollamon found the back of the net for her second goal of the afternoon, extending the lead to four.

With the quarter winding down, Penn State finally got on the board with a great backhanded goal from Sophia Gladieux to make it 4-1.

PHIAAA GOALLL #WeAre pic.twitter.com/sg0ajsJK4r

— Penn State Field Hockey (@PennStateFH) October 1, 2023

Heading into the fourth quarter, Penn State attempted a comeback and got things going thanks to the stick of Mackenzie Allessie. Allessie scored her sixth goal of the year to cut the lead to two.

GOALL #2 by Mack Allessie, assisted by Carly Gannon!! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/GFqv3NITNh

— Penn State Field Hockey (@PennStateFH) October 1, 2023

However, Maryland tightened up its defense after that goal for the remainder of the game and held on to win 4-2.

Takeaways

• That was an ugly game. Right off the bat, Penn State looked unmatched against Maryland after scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. The defense looked gassed after the first quarter and dug a big enough hole that the offense was unable to come back from.
• It took basically three quarters, but the offense showed up in the final 15 minutes. Sophia Gladieux notched her 12th goal of the year while Mackenzie Allessie scored her sixth.
• Penn State fell to 5-5 on the year and is now 0-2 to start Big Ten play. While the season is still far from over, the Nittany Lions need to pick up their gameplay if they want any chance of getting back into the postseason.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions return home to take on the No. 11 Ohio State at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 6, at the Field Hockey Complex. The game can be streamed on BTN+.