No. 3 Maryland Sneaks Past Northwestern, 3-0

9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Sept. 10, 2011

Complete Results

Site: College Park, Md. (Field Hockey and Lacrosse Field)
Score: No. 3 Maryland 3, Northwestern 0
Records: NU (3-2, 0-0 Big Ten), Maryland (4-1, 0-0 ACC)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Sept. 11 vs. No. 8 American • College Park, Md. • 10 a.m.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. -- Northwestern's bid to knock-off the defending national champions fell short as Maryland defeated the Wildcats, 3-0, Saturday in College Park, Md. With the help of Chelsea Armstrong, the Wildcats tried to make things interesting late, but the Terrapins' balanced attack was too much to overcome.

"We fought hard for 70 minutes," said head coach Tracey Fuchs. "Maryland is a great team and we just need to put our opportunities away tomorrow against American."

Maryland's Jill Witmer kicked things off for the Terrapins in the early going, knocking in a quick pass from Nikki Fernandez in front of the cage just seven minutes into the game. Three minutes later, NU's Armstrong had a good opportunity to even things up for the 'Cats, but a solid save thwarted the deadlock.

Freshman Maddy Carpenter, in her fourth appearance in the cage this year for the Wildcats, recorded a great save after Maryland was pressing hard on offense. Northwestern regained control and had another solid opportunity to tie things up, but Claire Thompson's shot went just wide. The Terrapins struck again five minutes before the end of the first half when Katie Gerzabek deflected Harriet Tibble's pass past Carpenter, giving the Terrapins the 2-0 upper hand at the break.

In the second stanza, the two squads traded shots back-and-forth, but neither were able to capitalize on the opportunities for the first 25 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Maryland added to their lead with a Maxine Fluharty goal off a corner setup. Northwestern mounted a late push with Armstrong sending a flurry of shots to the cage, but in the end, the 'Cats were unable to connect.

Northwestern will remain in College Park and face No. 8 American in the second day of the Terrapin Invitational. Action begins Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. Live stats for that game can be found .

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!