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Friday, Oct. 18, 2013

#1 Maryland (14-0, 3-0 ACC)

vs.

#4 Syracuse (12-1, 2-1 ACC)

Game Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: College Park, Md.
Stadium: Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
Live Stats: UMTerps.com
Listen Live: WMUCSports.wordpress.com
Live Updates: https://twitter.com/TerpFieldHockey

Event Information

• Maryland will host No. 4 Syracuse Friday at 6 p.m. at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. Admission is free and parking will be free after 4 p.m. Maryland Athletics is hosting the annual Maryland Madness event at Cole Field House at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Traffic in the area may be affected.

• Live stats will be available at UMTerps.com. Fans can listen online for free via Maryland's campus station, WMUCSports.wordpress.com.

• Live updates will also be available at http://twitter.com/#!/TerpFieldHockey.

Scouting The Terps

• Maryland is ranked No. 1 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches poll. The Terrapins are coming off of their 16th overall Final Four appearance and fifth straight.

• The Terps are coming off of a 2-0 win at American Sunday. After a scoreless first half with four total shots, Jill Witmer scored in the 49th minute off a penalty corner, then Emma Rissinger scored with 6:53 to go off a pass from Mieke Hayn.

• Maryland has the nation's top offense. The Terps lead the country in scoring average (4.62) and goals scored per game (4.64).

• In their 14 games of the season, 15 different Terrapins have scored and 11 have scored two goals or more. Senior Jill Witmer scored her 61st career goal Sunday and is No. 5 on Maryland's all-time scoring list.

• Twelve Terps have notched an assist. In all, Maryland has 47 assists on 65 goals scored so far this year.

Scouting The Orange

• ACC newcomer Syracuse is 12-1 on the year and 2-1 in ACC play. The Orange have won six straight matchups since a 6-3 loss at Boston College on Sept. 20. Most recently, the Orange beat No. 7 Duke, 2-1, in double overtime Friday, and No. 20 New Hampshire, 3-1, Sunday. Leonie Geyer is leading the Orange with 10 goals and 10 assists.

• Last year, Syracuse went 19-3. The Orange went all the way to the NCAA Final Four before falling to No. 1 North Carolina, 6-1.

• Maryland owns the all-time series, 5-1. They last met in the NCAA Second Round in College Park on Nov. 13, 2011.  No. 6 Maryland took the first lead when Katie Gerzabek scored in the 56th minute. No. 3 Syracuse tied it up with just under eight minutes to play to force overtime. Harriet Tibble scored the game winner off a corner in the 84th minute to send Maryland to its 15th Final Four. | RECAP

• Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley was an assistant under Missy Meharg from 1997-2000, along with current Terps volunteer assistant Steve Simpson. The three of them coached current assistant Dina Rizzo and won the 1999 NCAA title together. Simpson worked with Bradley at Syracuse for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Former Terrapin Tara Zollinger (2009-2012) is now an assistant coach with the Orange.

Play the Best

The Terrapins will play one of the strongest schedules in the country.
• The Terps will play nine games against eight of the other 15 teams in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. They are 6-0 vs. those teams.
• The Terrapins will face off against all three of the other 2012 Final Four teams in Princeton, North Carolina and Syracuse. So far, they are 2-0 vs. those three.
• Maryland will play 12 of the teams ranked in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll in 13 regular season games. So far, Maryland is 8-0 vs. ranked teams.

Head Coach Missy Meharg

The 2010 and 2011 NFHCA National Coach of the Year, Missy Meharg returns for her 26th season at the helm of the successful Terrapin field hockey program. Her current career record is 464-112-9 (.801). Below is a breakdown of just a few of her highlights since she took the reins in 1988:

• Seven-time National Champions
• Nine ACC Titles
• Nine NFHCA Coach of the Year honors
• Six ACC Coach of the Year awards
• 15 NCAA Final Four Appearances
• Seven Honda Awards won by five players
• 88 All-ACC selections
• 14 ACC Players of the Year
• Seven ACC Rookies of the Year
• Five Olympians

Staff Updates

The Terrapins welcome a newcomer and a returnee to the program in 2013. Joppe de Vries joins the staff as a new assistant coach/technical director. Maryland alum Steve Simpson returns as a volunteer assistant.
• De Vries comes to College Park after coaching and teaching at the University of Amsterdam. He has been in coaching circles in the Netherlands for over a decade and has coached prominent clubs, including the Rotterdam Hockey Club and former Terrapin Berber Rischen. He worked on the South African hockey staff training goalkeepers for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
• Simpson, a 1988 graduate of the University of Maryland, began working alongside the program as an undergraduate student. He was hired by Meharg in 1995 and was an assistant through 2003. Together, they won the 1999 national title. Since then, he coached at New Hampshire and UMass and most recently, at Syracuse.

Oh Captain, My Captain

Brooke Cabrera, Ali McEvoy and Sarah Sprink were voted tri-captains by their teammates prior to the start of the season.

• Cabrera, a redshirt junior, will help with off the field team chemistry and leadership.

• McEvoy, a senior who was recently named to the Preseason All-ACC Team, has started throughout her career for the Terrapins’ defense. She and Sprink will help lead the Terps on the field.

• Sprink will serve as the Terrapins’ liaison with officials as NCAA field hockey moves into using a referral system.

Three Named to All-ACC Preseason Team

• Three Terrapins were named to the 11-member Preseason All-ACC Team - Maxine Fluharty, Ali McEvoy and Jill Witmer.
• The Terrapins were picked to finish second in the ACC and received a first-place vote.
• The Terrapins have won nine overall ACC titles. Most recently, they won three straight from 2008, 2009 and 2010.
• Witmer was named to the All-ACC Team last year, while McEvoy made it in 2011. This is Fluharty's first honor from the conference.

Home Sweet Home

Since its opening in 2003, the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has provided the Maryland hockey program a huge home field advantage.
• The Terps are 122-13 (.904) all-time at the Complex.
• Maryland won 38 straight games at the Complex from Oct.11, 2008 through Oct. 14, 2011. The streak ended with a 5-2 loss to then-No. 1 Old Dominion.
• The Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has played home to 20 of Maryland's NCAA Tournament games, including two Final Fours (2007, 2010). The Terrapins are 19-1 in those games and won the 2010 national title on their home field.

Pack the House

The Maryland field hockey team has increasingly attracted more and more fans to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex season after season.
• The Terrapins have led the nation in attendance for three straight years and the ACC for six years. In 2012, Maryland averaged 643 fans per game with 7,725 fans coming out to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
• An NCAA record crowd of 2,381 came out to watch as Maryland beat North Carolina 3-2 in double overtime for the 2010 national championship at the Complex.

Terps in Openers

• Maryland is 36-3-2 in season openers and the Terps have won their last 18 straight.
• The Terrapins haven't opened the season at home in the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex since 2000. They've opened 26 of their 40 seasons on the road.
• The Terps are 10-1 in home openers at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex and have outscored their opponents 46-11 in those 11 games.

Home Openers at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
9/13/03 - Maryland 6, Drexel 0
9/4/04 - Maryland 6, Old Dominion 0
9/2/05 - Maryland 4, Michigan 0
9/4/06 - Maryland 1, Old Dominion 0
9/2/07 - Maryland 3, Michigan 2 (2OT)
9/5/08 - Maryland 8, Old Dominion 1
9/6/09 - Maryland 4, Michigan 1
9/3/10 - Maryland 3, Old Dominion 1
9/4/11 - Maryland 2, Michigan 1
8/31/12 - Old Dominion 2, Maryland 1
9/3/13 - Maryland 8, Drexel 3

Terps When...

Meharg Named ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine Top 20 Recruiter

Terrapin head coach Missy Meharg was named one of college athletics' top 20 recruiters by ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine in January 2012.

"ESPNU AND THE MAGAZINE asked an all-star panel a seemingly simple question: Who are the top 20 recruiters in college sports? We spoke with three dozen experts, from Mag college football Insider Bruce Feldman to volleyball legend Karch Kiraly to women's World Cupper Cat Whitehill. Turns out, baseball coaches aren't the only ones pulling roster magic from a hat half-filled with scholarships."

Support the Terps

• To support the Maryland Field Hockey program, join the Corner Club today! Log on to CornerClub.org for more information.

• Follow Maryland field hockey on Twitter for in-game updates during all games and the latest info! Check out http://twitter.com/#!/TerpFieldHockey!

Follow Maryland Athletics on Twitter

Media Information

• Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland field hockey news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email field hockey contact Rose DiPaula with "Field Hockey E-Mail" as the subject and you will receive every update.

• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.

• Live stats: Follow Terps games live in 2013 on your computer with Live Stats. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.

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