COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Ohio State’s field hockey team dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 1 Maryland on Sunday afternoon, falling to 4-10 overall and 0-6 in the Big Ten as its losing streak reached eight games against a Terrapins team that has not lost all season.
Maryland (14-0, 5-0 Big Ten) scored on the game’s first penalty corner at 5:31 of the first quarter, when Francisca Eschoyez converted her team-leading ninth goal of the season off assists from Maci Bradford and Ella Beach. Ohio State’s defensive corner unit stopped the Terps’ second attempt, with goalkeeper Maddie Stevens making the save to keep the deficit at one through the opening quarter.
The Buckeyes allowed only one shot in the second quarter — and Maryland scored on it anyway, Babs van Hest doubling the lead at 16:52 with her eighth goal of the year. Ohio State recorded three shots in the frame, with Sienna Golden and Raleigh Kerst putting theirs on target, but Maryland goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko turned both away to preserve the 2-0 halftime margin.
Ohio State’s defense held firm in a scoreless third quarter, limiting Maryland to a single shot while Kerst put another effort on goal that Klebasko saved. The Buckeyes’ best offensive push came in the final six minutes, when they earned their only penalty corner of the game and fired four shots on goal — but by then the game had slipped away.
Feliz Kuhne put it out of reach in the fourth quarter, scoring twice in 81 seconds for her first career multi-goal game. Bradford finished with two assists, and Klebasko posted her 48th career win as Maryland recorded its eighth shutout of the season, its 250th victory at its Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex, and a 21-3 edge in the all-time series with Ohio State.
The numbers underneath the scoreline were less lopsided than 4-0 suggests. Ohio State put seven of its nine shots on target — a .778 shots-on-goal percentage, its highest against a conference opponent this season — and held Maryland to 11 shots, a season low for a Big Ten opponent against the Buckeyes. Kerst and Carmela Maro led Ohio State with two shots apiece, both on goal.
The loss caps a brutal weekend road trip and a schedule that has offered the Buckeyes no relief: Sunday marked their second game this season against a No. 1-ranked opponent and their sixth against a ranked team. Four of Ohio State’s losses this year have come by a single goal, and two more came in penalty shootouts.
Ohio State returns home for its final regular-season home game on Friday, Oct. 23, hosting Michigan State at 3 p.m. at Buckeye Varsity Field in Columbus. The Buckeyes then close their nonconference schedule at Kent State at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25, still searching for their first Big Ten win of the season.
