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Another weekend, another top-10 matchup.
That's been the story lately for the Terrapin field hockey team.
Saturday, No. 9 Duke will visit College Park for yet another clash of highly ranked ACC opponents. And when the Terps say this game is no different than any other, it's not just a line.
The contest marks the seventh top-10 matchup of the season for the No. 1 Terps (10-1, 3-0 ACC). The team defeated then-No. 1 Wake Forest and then-No. 10 Virginia each of the past two weekends.
The Blue Devils (8-3, 1-2) will try to climb back to .500 within the conference. Although Duke may not be as talented as it was in recent years, the Terps know better than to take them lightly.
"Duke is always very eager character-wise, very risky," coach Missy Meharg said. "They'll really go hard and commit a lot of numbers to the cage, so our goal is to play good solid defense."
Still, Meharg believes the Blue Devils' aggressiveness may work against them. The Terps love to push the ball in transition, and they will be given plenty of opportunities for a quick counterattack.
"We'll bump up [defensively] and play them even," Meharg said. "When we come up with the ball, we're going directly to goal because I think that [the Blue Devils] are possibly a little more impatient than they should be, at times."
The Terps will have to find someone new to ignite the break, as forward Katie O'Donnell is in Mexico City for the week, competing in the Junior Pan American games. Also representing the U.S. are midfielder Alexis Pappas and back Brianna Davies, both starters.
Their absence means the Terps will need reserves to step up. Several players will see time at new positions in order to make things work.
Meharg said the players have responded well in practice, and back Susie Rowe agreed.
"That's where we are now, making sure everyone understands the role [of] their positions, because we have people at new positions," Rowe said. "It takes 11 people doing their job. We can't have one person make a mistake and have that be where the other team takes advantage of us."
Rowe has been asked to take a more active role in the offense this season. Saturday, she will be counted on to be even more involved in the attack.
The senior back said the team is confident in the personnel that will be on the field.
Midfielders Danielle Keeley and Kristina Foster, as well as back Amanda Himmelheber, will be relied on heavily. All three have played significant minutes this season and are chomping at the bit to get out there.
At the least, the missing players will add some spice to a matchup that is rather mundane, considering it pits two top-10 teams and collegiate rivals.
"At the end of the day, we just treat [Duke] as another team, and we have to go out there and play our game," Rowe said. "We're not going to let the big Duke-Maryland rivalry affect us. Maybe the fans will be a bit more into it, but when we get on the field, there's no punching going on or anything like that."
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