Experience helped field hockey team in the clutch

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Terrapin field hockey team had just scored two goals in less than two minutes, turning a two-goal deficit into a tie game and forcing a timeout from a Virginia squad that had seen its lead evaporate with 13 minutes remaining in the ACC Championship game.

As the top-seeded Terps huddled together on the sideline, they betrayed no surprise at the turn of events, despite their frustrations and struggles through the first 54 minutes of the match.

"I turned to the players and said, ‘I never doubted that we could do this for one second,'" goalkeeper Alicia Grater said. "I think it was just a matter of time."

From a team that had only three times this season faced the pressure of playing from behind before the title game, that statement could be misinterpreted as arrogance or foolhardiness.

But though the No. 1 Terps (20-0, 5-0 ACC) had never trailed by more than a goal this season, and never for as long as the 42 minutes the No. 3-seeded Cavaliers held the lead, the seven returning Terp starters once again proved their mettle in a close game, eventually winning in a 3-2 overtime battle.

"We've had so much history with how to dig out a win," back Emma Thomas said. "There's girls on this team who have really dug out a win when the odds have been against us. And I think, 2-0 down, the odds probably were against us. But we love the challenge."

The players who were on last season's team, including Thomas and Grater, could remember the 2008 ACC Tournament, in which the Terps faced two halftime deficits yet came back to win both times. The Terps were down 2-1 at halftime against Virginia in the semifinal and again to Wake Forest in the final but rallied to beat both teams.

And in the Final Four last November, they went into double overtime against Iowa before pulling out a 2-1 victory.

Just because they have been more dominant this year doesn't mean they have forgotten how to handle themselves under pressure. As they showed in come-from-behind regular season wins against Virginia, Princeton and Old Dominion, they thrive in those situations.

"We've been waiting all year for games like this," coach Missy Meharg said.

At halftime of the ACC title game, Meharg gave the team the option of playing back to try to prevent the Virginia forwards from scoring again.

But the players said no.

"They decided that they wanted to continue," Meharg said. "They wanted to press up."

The Terps had confidence that they could come back in second half despite their shaky performance in the final 35 minutes of Friday's semifinal match against Wake Forest, in which they let the Demon Deacons cut their three-goal lead to one.

The Terps even changed their strategy to highlight the attack more. Thomas moved upfield and forward Katie O'Donnell played in the midfield to draw up the Cavalier backfield and create more space and offensive opportunities, while trusting the defense to step up.

The defending champions lived up to their own expectations, shutting down the Cavaliers (18-3, 3-2) the rest of the game, scoring twice before Virginia's timeout and earning the victory with a goal in overtime.

"I just don't think we were ever going to allow them to get anything," Thomas said. "It was like a refusal. They will not get in this game. We will get back in."

kyanchulis@umdbk.com