Field hockey readies for higher level of ACC play

Freshmen Maxine Fluharty and Katie Gerzabek have each enjoyed impressive starts to their Terrapins field hockey careers, starting all of the Terps' six preconference games and totaling five goals and three assists between them.

But ACC play, they know, is an entirely different experience.

The freshmen will get their first taste of a conference opponent this weekend in Massachusetts, where the No. 3 Terps (5-1) will travel to take on ACC rival No. 8 Boston College (5-1) tonight and nonconference opponent Massachusetts (2-3) on Sunday.

"It's really nice to start ACC play. I know we are excited to do that," coach Missy Meharg said. "It's just what we need: good, physical, tough hockey."

A big factor for the Terps in their conference opener will be the continued solid play of freshman forward Shelby Sydnor with Fluharty and Gerzabek, who have combined for 30 percent of the team's goals this season. All have gained considerable experience in a short time in their young careers, and Meharg said they are more than ready to compete on the conference level.

"I'm real proud of them, and it's stellar to have them on this squad," Meharg said. "They come with a standard of personal expectation and understanding, and it's been exciting to have them. … They both came in really fit and they are ready to contribute."

"Katie and Max have taken a huge step up coming in and starting for the team," senior midfielder Jemma Buckley said. "They're two key players up in the forward line."

The Eagles won't be the first ranked opponent the Terps face this season, but the game will mark the first time the team faces the pressure of playing in one of the nation's top conferences. Of the conference's six teams, five of them are ranked. Along with the Terps and Eagles, the ACC also boasts No. 1 North Carolina, No. 6 Duke and No. 17 Virginia; Wake Forest only recently dropped out of the rankings.

"BC is a much improved team from last year," Meharg said. "This is what we look forward to. Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey is No. 1. … It's what we play for."

"Everybody steps it up," Buckley said of conference games. "You want to win every game, so you just know it's a level up. You have to rise to the occasion, so the intensity is definitely lifted."

With the help of Buckley and the team's freshmen, the Terps will look to continue their historical dominance of their two weekend opponents. The Terps have never lost to either team, winning all 19 of the contests they have played all time.

But if the Terps' success against these two Massachusetts teams is to continue this weekend, Buckley said the Terps can't get caught up in trying to preserve winning streaks.

"We just have to take each game as it comes," Buckley said. "But the fact that we never have lost a game is obviously enough for us to want this next game. … We're going to come out hard."

vitale@umdbk.com