No seed, but big goals for field hockey

At this time last year, the Terrapins field hockey team was entering the NCAA Tournament as a clear national title favorite. Fresh off a third straight conference crown and holding the field's top seed, the Terps were, according to most, the team to beat. They never were.

This season, the circumstances are far different.

Though the defending national champions remain a contender, the Terps will take the field against Iowa tomorrow without the "title favorite" moniker they've become so accustomed to, entering the tournament unseeded for the first time since 2002.

"We're the underdogs. We might be home, but we're the bottom seed here," said coach Missy Meharg, whose Terps will host the tournament's first two rounds at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex tomorrow for the ninth straight year. "In that regard, it's time to buck up, get physical, play with pride and belief and enjoy that position as a team."

The Terps (15-4) haven't faced the Hawkeyes (15-4) since the 2008 Final Four. In that game, then-Terps senior Susie Rowe — who suffered a cut on her face and had to be removed from the game in the second half — assisted star forward Katie O'Donnell as she netted the game's final tally, clinching a 2-1 Terps victory with just one minute left in the second overtime.

If the two teams' last meeting is any indication, tomorrow's contest could be one of the season's most physically punishing.

"We have to be physical. If they're going to push us, we're going to push right back," forward Jill Witmer said. "People don't expect us to win it all. We just want to prove them wrong."

One advantage the Terps could have entering the game is a wealth of knowledge of the Hawkeyes program. First-year assistant Barb Weinberg was a two-time All-America goalkeeper under Iowa coach Tracey Griesbaum from 2001-04 and still knows the program intimately.

"Tracey does a very good job," Weinberg said. "Big Ten teams are typically very physical. We're going to have to be tough. They're going to be a very physical team. … We're going to have to fight for every single ball."

Knowing this, Meharg has used Weinberg's understanding of Iowa field hockey to the Terps' advantage, applying what the team's coaches and players have learned about the Hawkeyes and using it extensively in their preparation.

"She knows the coaching staff very well and is able to give us some very simple and subtle feedback in preparation. … They pretty much play the same way, their tendencies are quite similar," Meharg said. "When it comes to goaltending, corner defense, corner attack and different set-piece type stuff, she's been very useful."

Should the Terps advance past the Hawkeyes tomorrow, they would face a likely matchup with No. 3 seed Syracuse on Sunday. But midfielder Megan Frazer isn't concentrating on whom the Terps might play in the second round, or even whom they're facing in the first. Frazer is focused on one thing: getting the Terps to hoist the national championship trophy over their heads once again.

"It was just the best feeling, and we want to do it again," she said. "That's the bottom line. We want it again, and we're going to do whatever we can to get it."

vitale@umdbk.com