Katie O'Donnell striking the Honda Sports Award pose.

Congratulations to Maryland field hockey player Katie O’Donnell for being named the 2009 recipient of the Honda Sports Award for being the best player in collegiate field hockey!  The award comes on the heels of a season where O’Donnell broke multiple team and national scoring records.  According to umterps.com:

Over the course of the 2009 season, O’Donnell broke an unprecedented number of school, conference, and national records. She became the school’s single-season (87) and career points leader (208). She broke the ACC and Maryland career assist records and now has 74 career assists. O’Donnell is the first player in Maryland history to break 25 goals and 30 assists in a season.

With her performance this year, she earned her 200th point, making her the 24th player in NCAA history to break the 200-point mark. In the NCAA semifinals round, she recorded a new Tournament record – nine points in a championship round game.

Those of you who follow field hockey would agree that O’Donnell deserves the award.  She is the most consistent offensive force in the game, and she was the key player in Maryland’s return to the National Championship game this year.  Congratulations again, Katie.  Here’s to you repeating the feat in 2010!

Even this clown is having trouble smiling today.

It’s one of those overcast Fall mornings in DC.  It’s an appropriate setting for a day of lamenting about what could have been.  Terps field hockey fans are feeling a little empty today.  That’s because Maryland lost a close game to UNC in the NCAA field hockey National Championship game yesterday.

This gamewas the field hockey equivalent of the Patriots losing the Super Bowl to the Giants after going undefeated through the regular season and playoffs.  The undefeated Terps led most of the game.  UNC tied the game at 2-2 by pulling their goalie, a desperation move that is much like the famed David Tyree Helmet Catch.  They won it on a late penalty corner shot.

The team has a lot to be proud of.  Maryland finished with 23 wins, the most in the history of the program.  Seniors Emma Thomas, Nicole Muracco, and Alexis Pappas will not be forgotten.  In addition to taking home many individual accolades, they led the most successful four year run in Terps history.  There is no shame in losing to UNC, who is the second most successful program out there.

Make no mistake, the Terps will back in this game next year, but it’ll be a long wait.  Missy Meharg and Odie will be back for revenge.  In the meantime, I’ll turn my attention to the “other” Maryland sports like basketball.

ODIE! ODIE! ODIE!

The Maryland field hockey team makes it easy for a fan like me to make bold predictions.  The Terps returned to the finals by beating Princeton 7-5 yesterday.  Before the season began I had predicted that the Terps would successfully defend their title.  They are now one win away from doing so.

Katie “Odie” O’Donnell was once again the star for the Terps, scoring three goals and adding three assists to break the record for points in a semifinal.  She was this year’s ACC Offensive Player of the Year.  I think of Katie as the Oscar Robinson of NCAA field hockey.  She plays every facet of the game at the highest level.  She’s been an All-American since her freshman year.  The Junior forward may go down as the greatest player in the history of the game.

While I’m patting myself on the back, I had also correctly predicted that UNC would beat UVA.  I must say that takes a sincere field hockey aficionado to read those tea leaves.  So Maryland faces UNC in a one game final on Sunday to decide it all.  It sounds like Terps fans did travel in numbers to Winston-Salem, so the Championship game should be a fun one to be at.

One more win for the trophy!  Every Maryland corner is a goal!  Go Terps!

Maryland beat AU 6-1 and Drexel 5-0 in the first two rounds.   In the hunt for their seventh NCAA title, Maryland is looking to repeat as National Champions and pick-up their fourth title in five years.  The Terps also beat UVA a couple weeks ago to pick-up their eighth ACC Championship title.

Katie O’Donnell, Emma Thomas, and Nicole Muracco continue to lead the team on its march through the schedule.  The Terps will have to stop Princeton’s Kathleen Sharkey, who leads the team with 21 goals on the season including 6 game winners, in what should prove to be a tough match-up.  A bigger test will come out of the winner of the UVA vs UNC game.  Despite the fact that UVA is the higher seed, UNC seems better on paper to me, scoring about one goal per game more than UVA and allowing about 1/2 goal per game less than UVA.  They’re also playing what amounts to a home game on the campus of Wake Forest.

I’m going to predict a UMD vs UNC final in Winston-Salem.  Let’s hope enough of our fans travel there to make it at least somewhat neutral.  That game takes place Sunday at noon, and Shell Games will be following the tournament throughout the weekend.  GO TERPS!

“Dominant” is the only word I can think of to describe this team.  Dominant.  The team has six shutouts this season and they have outscored their opponents 96-24.  That means they are scoring four times as many goals as their opponents for those of you fellow English majors.

I love this team.  If I had one free minute of time in my life I’d go to their games.  Maybe I’ll go to a game one day soon.  In the meantime I’ll follow them from afar and use the power of the blogosphere to broadcast my cheers.  Go Terps Field Hockey!

Great article in the Post today about how Maryland’s dominant field hockey team is fairly anonymous on not only the local sports landscape, but their own damn campus. I’m not sure what the exact problem is, but it could have something to do with the fact that it’s field hockey.

Seriously, though, the team is incredible. It’s not that they can’t lose. It’s just that they don’t. Katie O’Donnell is the sport’s top player and Missy Meharg is the top coach. She’s the Sasho Cirovski of underappreciated Maryland women’s sports program coaches.

Let me just take this opportunity to point out the voluminous field hockey coverage here at Shell Games. Why do we do it? Because we like girls care. It’s because we care.

Your 16-0, top-ranked, defending national champion Terps field hockey team closes out the regular season tomorrow with a big showdown at 15-0, #2 North Carolina.

One of these days, I gotta make it to a game.

(Photo credit: D.C. Sports Box)

The 2008 NCAA Champion Maryland Field Hockey Team returns to defend its title.  Three of the eleven spots on the Preseason All-ACC Team are occupied by Terrapins.  Forward Katie O’Donnell ranked second in scoring and assists in the nation last year, and was the NCAA Offensive Player of the Year.   Katie is not only the best collegiate player in the country, she also has a well documented, fantastic smile.  She’s not the only one.  Backfielder Emma Thomas joined Maryland in mid-season 2008 and made an immediate impact, scoring 22 points in 16 games.  Midfielder Brianna Davies was a Third Team All-American last year, and returns to lead a shutdown midfield defense.  Ameliet Rischen is also key to successful D at midfield.  Ameliet returns for her senior year looking better than ever.

The Terps will miss team leaders Susie Rowe, who tied the team record for goals in a season last year, and Sarah Scholl, who was an offensive spark plug that also led the team in blogging.  However, the person most key to the team’s success, seven-time NCAA Coach of the Year Missy Meharg, does return for her 22nd year.  Last year marked the fifth championship the Terps have won over Meharg.  What can you say?  You can’t miss with Missy.

It’s easy to make bold predictions when you’re not the one that has to fulfill them, so I’m going to make one.  The Terrapins will successfully defend their National Championship.  Despite losing a few key players, the team returns with a lot of talent.  The Terps have balanced scoring and defense.  Just one look at the smile on their faces tells you they have what it takes.

Maryland Field Hockey Murderers Row

Katie O'Donnell has the smile of a champion.

Emma Thomas has the smile of a champion.

Brianna Davies has the smile of a champion.

Ameliet Rischen has the smile of an international supermodel.

Junior forward Jeremy Hall.

The press has a made a big deal out of the fact that the team is coached by Matt LeBlanc, but coaches don’t win soccer games, goal scorers do.  I am copyrighting that phrase so don’t even think about using it.  Junior Jeremy Hall scored the game-winner with his 14th goal and 34th point in 23 games.  If I had to pick someone that Jeremy Hall resembled I’d have to go with field hockey player Katie O’Donnell because he, too, has such a nice smile.  Damn it, I can’t control these urges to write about the field hockey team!  I love your smile Katie!  Back to soccer…

The ACC is the dominant conference for mens’ soccer, but there are some solid mid-major programs out there and Creighton is one of them.  Maryland came into the tournament with the #4 RPI ranking, but the top 3 – Wake, St. Johns, and Indiana, are still in it. It’s great that we’re in the Elite 8, but the real test is yet to come.

The 2008 Marlyand Field Hockey NCAA Champhionship Team!

Congratulations are in order for the Maryland field hockey squad!  The team won its sixth NCAA Chamionship on Sunday with a win over #2 Wake Forest.  Maryland entered the tournament as the #1 ranked team, and this weekend they proved they were the best in the country.

I began following this team in August through news updates, and early on I had the feeling the Terps were good enough to win it all.  The ACC is the best field hockey conference in the country, and the Terps had arguably the toughest schedule there was, so this was no cake walk.  Coach Missy Meharg did a great job of keeping this team focused on the ultimate goal.  Senior Sarah Scholl demonstrated the team’s high level of dedication when she wrote this statement in her blog after winning the ACC Championship:

That is what led us to the title; a determined commitment to doing all the small things in practice, in life, in games.

Senior Susie Rowe and sophomore Katie O’Donnell led the offense throughout the year. Rowe tied the team record for goals in a season during the championship game. We should all be proud that the University of Maryland produced this team of young leaders. I look forward to following another run at the title in 2009!

Best wishes to the seniors, and GO TERPS!

Cheers Susie!

The Maryland field hockey squad closed out a 15-2 regular season with a 10-0 win over VCU on a senior night in which all five seniors scored.  The victory means Maryland finishes the regular season ranked #1.  They have the top seed in the ACC tournament and are on a roll going into the post-season.

Senior back Susie Rowe, a UK import, had two goals and two assists.  The performance led her to a second ACC Player of the Week award in 2008.

The game marked the end to a dominant regular season for the team in which they beat opponents by more than five goals a total of eight times.  The team also recorded eight shutouts.  They are getting it done on both sides of the field, and finished the year with six wins in a row.  Many of those wins came against big programs including ODU, Penn, and UNC.

The Terps should be playing home games in the NCAA tournament on 11/15 and 11/16. Cheers to Susie Rowe, Katie O’Donnell, and the rest of the team on a great season. We look forward to a run at the title.