AU field hockey coach Steve Jennings thought his team was in good position for almost all of Sunday's match at Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Never mind that the Terrapins controlled the shots and penalty corners the whole day. The teams were knotted in a scoreless tie for almost an hour of play - not a bad place to be against the top-ranked Terps.
But Maryland's full-field pressure caught up with No. 6 AU (20-2). The Terps (21-2) got what they had been waiting for when they converted a penalty corner with less than 11 minutes left into the game-winner in a 3-0 victory.
It was a win that kept the Eagles from their goal of a first-ever Final Four appearance, despite winning the most games in program history.
"We weren't really frustrated," said Maryland midfielder Lauren Powley, who scored the game-winner. "We were just waiting for a goal to go in. We just wanted to keep pressuring and get two or three goals, and we did."
Powley ended more than 59 minutes of scoreless hockey when she barreled a shot off a penalty corner just above the stacked pads of AU goalkeeper Allison Fayfich to send Maryland to its third-straight Final Four. It was the last of the Terps' seven corners. AU drew just one all game.
After the goal, the Eagles were deflated for the final minutes. Maryland forward Meredith Long, owner of just two goals in the regular season, scored twice right in front of Fayfich on feeds from forward Jackie Ciconte, in the game's home stretch.
The three quick goals came after Maryland's defense all but paralyzed AU's ball movement. The Eagles managed just one shot in the second half and struggled to get the ball in the circle.
"I was encouraging us to be more offensive-minded and possess the ball," Jennings said. "We were getting away from building an attack up with passing. If we were able to get a goal before their second goal, we'd have been in good shape."
Freshman forward Irene Schickhardt led AU with five shots, an accomplishment considering Maryland held a 16-6 advantage for the match. Only two of them made it to Terp goalkeeper Kathryn Masson as AU's only shots on goal.
But Maryland's defenders caused AU the most problems, trapping at every corner of the field.
"They were just following us everywhere," junior forward Camila Infante said.
Her sister, Maryland midfielder Paula, made out best of the trio of Infante sisters. The Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year made a few tackles against Camila, AU's leading scorer.
Early in the second half, Camila drove to the top of the circle on the attack only to have Paula break up the play. Then the youngest sister, AU sophomore defender Denise, poked it back, but couldn't reform the attack.
The Terps forced Fayfich to play some of her best defense of the season. She made seven saves and helped keep the first half scoreless through five Maryland penalty corners.
She also had two crucial stops late in the match, kicking out shots by Ciconte and midfielder Tiffany Marsh that were cleared by senior defender Caroline Vo with fewer than 15 minutes remaining. But the game-winner came next.
The ten shots Fayfich faced were the most she had seen all season.
"It was more difficult shot-wise," she said. "But there have been tougher games where we've had to endure through more and work harder."
AU reached the second-round with a 3-2 win over No. 8 Penn State (17-4) Saturday. Camila Infante led the Eagles with a goal and an assist. She scored on a penalty stroke and assisted on senior midfielder Javiera Villagra's game-winner - the last goal by AU's seven-player senior class.
Sunday's match was the fifth time in three seasons the Infante sisters had faced each other. Camila wished her Final Four-bound sister well, but also gave her own team credit.
"I'm proud at least one of us will go to the Final Four," she said. "I'm happy for her, and I hope they win now. If they beat us, they can beat anybody"
