EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 15 Northwestern offered second-ranked Maryland a rude welcome to the Big Ten as the Wildcats took down the Terrapins 3-2 on Saturday at Lakeside Field.
Junior Kelley Stump scored two goals for NU, including the game-winner with 4:33 remaining in the contest. Maryland's No. 2 national ranking marks the highest-ranked team Northwestern has defeated going back through the 1996 season.
The contest was the first for the Terrapins' field hockey team as a member of the Big Ten Conference and was the first Northwestern matchup against any Maryland team since the Terps joined the league this season.
Maryland controlled possession throughout the majority of the first half but Northwestern goalkeeper Maddy Carpenter came up huge in the period and all afternoon for that matter. The Terrapins recorded the first nine shots of the contest, but a counter-attack led to the 'Cats getting on the board first.
Stump was able get loose six yards in front of the cage with only a defender between her and the goal when Stump's shot hit the leg of the Maryland player, earning Northwestern a penalty stroke. Lisa McCarthy stepped up and beat Maryland goalie Brooke Cabrera to her right, putting Northwestern up 1-0 with 6:01 left in the opening stanza.
NU carried the advantage into the intermission despite being out-shot 10-2 and with Maryland earning all four of the penalty corners in the half. Carpenter came up with six first-half saves to hold the guests scoreless.
The Terrapins did get the equalizer just over two minutes into the second half when Anna Dessoye tipped in Katie Gerzabek's shot from outside the circle, making it 1-1.
However, the 'Cats needed only 73 seconds to regain the lead. Charlotte Martin found Stump hanging out at the back post and delivered her a perfect feed that resulted in Northwestern getting it's one-goal advantage back.
Maryland remained on the attack and earned a penalty corner with Moira Putsch scoring off a rebound at 44:49 to tie the game 2-2.
The decisive score came as the clock ticked under five minutes remaining in the second half. Northwestern had finally earned its first penalty corner of the day and Stump had a loose ball come to her stick and she put it home past Cabrera to give the Wildcats the lead for good. The goal was Stump's fourth of the season and marked her second multi-goal game of the year after she also scored twice against Dartmouth on Sept. 5.
Maryland made things very interesting in the final minute of regulation as the visitors attempted to force overtime. A foul by NU gave the Terrapins a penalty corner with the final seconds of the match ticking away. The Wildcats defense blocked a pair of shots and the penalty corner was initially ruled to have been stopped as the clock hit all zeros.
Upon further review by the officials, it was ruled that the corner was inadvertently ended early and awarded Maryland another corner. But Northwestern's defense made one final stop to earn the hard-fought upset.
Carpenter was outstanding in goal, recording eight saves while Kelsey Gradwohl added a defensive save early in the contest. NU managed just five shots in the contest, but was able to notch goals on three of them.
Northwestern faces a quick turnaround as it hosts Ball State at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Lakeside Field.