1. Field Hockey Game Recap- November 1, 2014
#2 Maryland 4-1 #14 Iowa
On senior day for the Maryland field hockey team, the #2 ranked Terps concluded
their 2014 regular season by winning their 11th
consecutive game and clinching their first
Big Ten title, after defeating #14 ranked Iowa 4-1 on November 1st
.
The win clinched the Terps the top seed going into the Big Ten Tournament in
their inaugural season in the conference. After the game, head coach Missy Meharg said,
“It’s been a great ride being in the Big Ten…today, so proud of all the women, girls that
had an opportunity to play, those that didn’t have an opportunity to play, because these
women compete as one everyday, and being the first Big Ten regular season champions
[in Maryland field hockey history] is quite a tribute to them.”
Seniors Maxine Fluharty (midfielder/forward) and Brooke Cabrera (goalkeeper),
in the final regular season game of their careers as Terps, put on a pair of spectacular
final performances.
When asked whether she was affected by any pregame emotions due to it being
senior day, Cabrera responded, “I mean a little bit in the warm-up, I was just kind of like,
‘Wow, this is a bit surreal,’ but once the buzzer went off and the game started, I was just
focused.”
Fluharty, in response to the same question, also had a game-time mentality,
saying, “I don’t think we focused on that as much…because this isn’t the end, there [are]
still more tournaments to come, and so I think our team was very present in that way
[going into the game].”
Staying focused was key in allowing these girls to perform at their best in one of
the most important games of their respective careers. Fluharty scored two of the Terps’
four goals, finishing first on the team with 15 goals for the season.
And yet, her personal successes are an extension of cohesive team play, she
claims. When asked what she would attribute her goal-scoring prowess this season to,
Fluharty said, “To everyone, to everyone around me. It’s incredible the way the team just
works for each other, and they’ll just give the final pass…it’s really to everyone else.”
Cabrera was her usual dominant self, making five saves and allowing only one
goal, en route to her 11th
straight victory in goal, as she finished the season with an
overall record of 16-2.
However, the players aren’t going to dote on their accomplishments up until this
point. Cabrera, responding to whether the team views this winning streak as a
momentum-builder or whether it is time for a clean slate, said, “Clean slate. I’d have to
say, I mean, the one thing Max [Fluharty] said to us was…‘You know we got one, but
now we’ve got a whole new stretch of focus and time and energy,’ and it’s just a clean
slate.”
The team will begin this “clean slate” on Thursday when they’ll face Ohio State, a
team that the Terps routed 6-0 earlier in the season, to kick-off the Big Ten Tournament.