Van Hest Breaks the Deadlock as No. 1 Maryland Edge No. 13 Indiana 1-0
This was not the Maryland we’ve seen most of the season. No flood of goals, no early statement. Just a grind, a goalkeeper standing tall, and one moment of quality in the third quarter.
Indiana made sure of that. The Hoosiers kept it scoreless for nearly 40 minutes in Bloomington on Sunday, and they had the better of the first half. They won an early penalty corner, forced three saves out of Alyssa Klebasko before the break, and limited the top-ranked Terrapins to scraps. Maryland were outshot in the opening half and looked, for once, like a team still feeling Thursday’s first defeat of the season against Northwestern.
Then the game turned on a card. As time ticked down on an Indiana green card, Babs van Hest picked up a loose ball in the circle and smashed it home in the 40th minute, her ninth goal of the season, assisted by Josie Hollamon. It was Maryland’s first goal in nearly four quarters of hockey, and it was all they needed.
Klebasko did the rest. She finished with four saves, her 49th career win and 21st career shutout, and Maryland’s ninth shutout of the year. Indiana pulled their goalkeeper in the 55th minute and threw everything forward, but the Terrapins held on for a 1-0 win that takes them to 15-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten.
Credit Indiana too. They’re only the second team all season to hold Maryland to a single goal, after Wake Forest in September, and they matched the Terrapins shot for shot, nine apiece. But this is the second straight game they’ve been shut out, after Penn State did the same, and that is the worry now. They finish the regular season at Rutgers on Friday at noon, and they need goals, fast.
Maryland close out at home against No. 6 Iowa on Friday at 1pm, and freshman Ella Beach will arrive in good spirits. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday after scoring against Northwestern and playing 55 minutes in the Indiana win. For a side that just took its first punch of the season and answered with a shutout on the road, that feels about right.
Related links:
https://sportscursor.com/northwestern-clinch-big-ten-share-rutgers-2-1-27-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/nfhca-poll-northwestern-no-1-maryland-no-2-27-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/big-ten-weekly-honours-bent-cole-nicholls-beach-26-october-2026/
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