Nov. 19, 2006

By Caitlin O'Grady

Special to CSTV.com

	CAITLIN O'GRADY Caitlin O'Grady is a CSTV.com correspondent from Wake Forest. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- 11/19: Maryland Wins Fifth National Championship 11/18: Maryland, Wake No Stranger to NCAA Champ. 11/17: Maryland Downs UConn, Moves to Finals 11/17: Wake Forest Moves On 11/15: Hofstra Deserves Respect

In what has become one of the biggest rivalries in field hockey, the University of Maryland Terrapins and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons met to battle out the NCAA Division I Championship. Maryland, the defending national champions, once again took home the title of NCAA Champions after narrowly defeating Wake Forest 1-0.

The teams had already met twice this season. In regular season play the Terps defeated the Deacons 3-2. Their rematch came Nov. 5 in the ACC Championship, when Wake Forest slid by Maryland 1-0 taking home the title of ACC Champions.

Each team is no stranger to the national championship, as they are two of the five teams to win multiple national titles. Wake Forest won three consecutive national championships from 2002-2004.

This year's match was one of the closest matches to go down in NCAA Championship history. The number of shots taken by both teams combined is fewer than the previous record of any NCAA tournament final game. Previously, in the NCAA semifinals of the 1994 Iowa vs. North Carolina game only 12 shots were taken throughout the game.

In the Wake Forest vs. Maryland game just 11 shots were taken throughout the entire game, a testament to just how close the game was.

Additionally, only four penalty corners were taken in the game which is the lowest number taken in an NCAA final round game.

The game was only the second 1-0 game in NCAA history, the first being last year's NCAA Championship game when Maryland defeated Duke 1-0.

"One of the things we recognize from last year, winning a national championship with the same score, is that it doesn't matter if it's 5-0 or 1-0, all you have to do is be one goal up at the end of the buzzer," Maryland Head Coach Missy Meharg said.

Although both team's had their opportunities to score, each team's defense held solid throughout the game.

The first half of the game was mostly dominated by Maryland's offense, which continually put heavy pressure on the Deacons defense. Wake Forest was not without their chances, as they did have several shots on goal and a penalty corner of their own, but generally they played much more defense than offense throughout the first half.

At the end of the half, with less than five minutes to play, the Terps scored the lone goal of the game. Wake Forest tried to clear the ball from in front of the goal but was unable to. Maryland senior Emily Trycinski managed to get her stick on the ball and push it past Wake Forest goalkeeper sophomore Crystal Duffield.

"The first half wasn't indicative of our play. I give credit to Maryland, they did a good job," Wake Forest Head Coach Jen Averill said. "But then in the second half I thought that we really showed our integrity and our play."

The Deacons emerged much stronger in the second half. They had several outstanding scoring opportunities, but the Terps defense and goalkeeper junior Kathryn Masson came up big, putting a stop to all of Wake Forest's scoring opportunities.

In the first half Maryland had six shots on goal while Wake Forest had none, but in the second half the Deacons had four shots on goal and the Terps had only one. Each team had just one penalty corner each half. Duffield and Masson each had two saves.

The loss was Wake Forest's first loss in an NCAA Championship. Last year they were edged out by Duke in the NCAA semifinals after having an undefeated regular season.

This year's championship win for Maryland marks their fifth NCAA championship. The only team with more championships is Old Dominion who holds nine.