Maryland Thump Iowa 5-1 to Share the Big Ten Title
Maryland didn’t leave anything to chance. A share of the Big Ten title was on the line on Friday, and the Terps had it just about wrapped up inside fifteen minutes.
No. 2 Maryland beat No. 9 Iowa 5-1 in College Park to close the regular season at 16-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten. That ties them with Northwestern at the top of the conference, and it’s Maryland’s ninth Big Ten title and the 28th conference title in program history. Northwestern take the tournament’s No. 1 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker, so Maryland go in as No. 2, but the banner is shared.
The start was brutal. Maci Bradford scored after just 81 seconds, found unmarked in the middle of the circle by Ella Beach. Then Francisca Eschoyez took over the corner routine, scoring twice off set pieces to make it 3-0 before the first quarter was done. Maryland scored on four of their eight corners on the day, and that’s been their weapon all season: they lead the country with 20 corner goals.
Iowa’s problem was simple. The Hawkeyes came in as the Big Ten’s highest-scoring team at 3.33 goals a game, built around the Dutch pair Frederique van Cleef and Dionne van Aalsum, who had 17 goals each. Both were held scoreless. Iowa swapped goalkeepers between quarters after Julia Claessens conceded on each of Maryland’s first-quarter shots on goal, and the game never really came back.
Bradford’s afternoon had a second layer, too. Her 14th assist of the season moved her into sole possession of first place on the Big Ten assist leaderboard. Maryland finished the regular season unbeaten at home, with six ranked wins, and now head to Columbus for the Big Ten Tournament, where they meet No. 7 seed Ohio State in Wednesday’s quarter-finals at 2pm ET.
For our money, Maryland look like the team nobody wants in a one-off game right now. Northwestern have the top seed, but the Terps have the corner routine, the home record, and a 16-1 mark that says this wasn’t a fluke.
Related:
https://sportscursor.com/iowa-maryland-big-ten-finale-van-aalsum-van-cleef-30-october-2026/
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