Ohio State field hockey season comes to a close with tourney loss

AJ King
Fri, 07 Nov 2014 04:26:39 +0000
Field Hockey, Sports, Buckeyes, field hockey, Maryland, ohio state, osu

Members of the Ohio State field hockey team sing ‘Carmen Ohio’ after a 2-1 loss to Michigan on Nov. 2 at Buckeye Varsity Field.
Credit: Grant Miller / Copy chief

Ohio State field hockey fell short against top-seeded Maryland, 5-0, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Thursday morning in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Maryland’s Sarah Sprink, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, scored a pair of goals in the victory. The junior defender started off the scoring 17 minutes into the game with a goal off a penalty corner from Big Ten Freshman of the Year, midfielder Moira Putsch.

With less than 10 minutes to play in the half, Sprink was awarded a penalty stroke, and she connected to give Maryland a 2-0 lead at the half.

The Terrapins (17-2, 7-1) didn’t hold up on their attack coming out of the half. Instead, they put the game away with a six-minute onslaught.

Freshman defender Carrie Hanks scored in the 42nd minute off a crossing pass from Putsch to start Maryland’s second-half rally.

Less than five minutes later, Sprink found space again and found junior midfielder Anna Dessoye for a tip-in goal.

For good measure, senior forward Katie Gerzabek scored Maryland’s fifth goal with 22:39 to play to put the game out of reach for the Buckeyes.

OSU was outshot, 22-7, and the Terrapins held an 8-3 advantage in penalty corners.

Second-team All-Big Ten performer Peanut Johnson got three shots on goal during the game, but the Buckeye junior forward was not able to find the back of the net.

OSU finished its season 6-12 after going 6-13 in 2013. The Buckeyes are set to return 12 freshmen next season, including leading scorer Maddy Humphrey, who finished the season with 32 points on 12 goals and eight assists.

Johnson is also set to return for her senior season after finishing with a career-high 11 assists and combining with Humphrey for 59 points in 2014.

Since defeating Indiana on the road to get coach Anne Wilkinson’s 300th victory, OSU lost four consecutive games to end the season.

Maryland is set to face Penn State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. at Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Mich.