From fighting food insecurity to beautifying the area with native plants, hundreds of Terps and local residents seized opportunities to do good in College Park and surrounding communities on Saturday for the 13th annual Good Neighbor Day.

The volunteers’ efforts resulted in 30 completed service projects in three and a half hours during the day of service, organized in partnership with the city of College Park and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Department of Parks and Recreation of Prince George’s County.

At the Langley Park Community Center, Maryland Secretary of Service and Civic Innovation Paul Monteiro ’02 joined UMD Associate Provost for Community Engagement Tania D. Mitchell and more than 100 volunteers to pack meals for food banks and shelters with Terps Against Hunger, a UMD student organization.

“It’s great to see the university becoming more intentional in reaching out to often-overlooked communities, especially here in Langley Park,” said Monteiro. “This is part of a larger initiative to ensure this world-class university is engaged with its neighbors.”

In nearby Hyattsville, UMD horticulturists and landscaping experts collaborated with PGCPS staff and families from César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion School, to transform the grounds with resilient native plants and pollinators.

Lilian Garcia, a César Chávez parent engagement assistant, nominated the project for consideration, knowing it could benefit from Terps with expertise pitching in alongside the school’s families.

“Good Neighbor Day partnerships highlight what’s possible when people unite for a common good, and thanks to UMD’s Landscaping Services, the staff at César Chávez were overjoyed,” Mitchell said.

Read on to see the impact Terps and local residents made together.

In potentially the most highly-anticipated game of the season, No. 13 Princeton field hockey (11–4 overall, 6–0 Ivy League) squared off with No. 6 Maryland (11–5, 5–2 Big Ten), where the Tigers defeated the Terrapins in a 2–1 nail biter of a victory. The win marked a second consecutive victory over a top ten opponent, following an upset earlier in the week over previously No. 10 ranked Harvard that elevated the team Tigers to the leading position in the Ivy League standings. 

Seniors on the team have played Maryland in close matchups the past three years, with wins in 2023 and 2022 and an overtime loss in 2021. 

“There’s quite a history of it being a close game going back a decade or so, so it was really great to get a win,” junior midfielder and captain Beth Yeager told The Daily Princetonian. “Especially coming off our big win against Harvard last weekend, I think we’re really proud that we have built on that momentum, and we’re continuing to grow.”

The game started off with back and forth possession as the Tigers entered their offensive circle within two minutes of the starting whistle. Following a breakaway, Princeton received an offensive corner with 8:30 left in the first quarter, shooting just wide of the goal. No other shots were taken by either team throughout the quarter, however Princeton missed one open scoring opportunity by senior forward Grace Schulze. 

“No matter what happened in the last play, it doesn’t matter,” Yeager told the ‘Prince’ about the team’s mindset. “We can move on, because we’re there for each other and also understanding that it is such a long game and that so much can happen in a short amount of time.”

After a scoreless first 15 minutes, the Tigers were able to stay on offense to start the second quarter. Just over three minutes in, Princeton took a shot from outside the circle that was deflected into the cage, a play initially ruled as a goal for the Tigers, but later revoked after video review. 

Four minutes later, first-year midfielder Anna Faulstich ran a baseline route and assisted Yeager in scoring the first goal of the game. 

“[Faulstich] made it easy to score,” Yeager said. 

The second half of the game started off with high intensity, as the ball traveled between scoring opportunities for both teams within minutes. Maryland had a strong run five minutes into the half, resulting in a corner. Maryland midfielder Hope Rose took the shot, finding the net with a hit to the back right corner of the cage, tying the game at 1–1. 

“I think that’s really important to gather your breath and just talk as a team to re-gather ourselves and just remind each other that even if you made a mistake, it’s in the past, and the goal is now to get another goal,” Faulstich told the ‘Prince’ about the Terrapins’ goal. 

Maryland received another offensive corner in the third quarter, but this time, the Tigers were up to the task as the score remained knotted at one. Following Maryland’s second corner, Yeager carried the ball into the circle, earning a stroke for the Tigers. Yeager’s stroke was successful, scoring the final goal of the game and the eleventh goal for her this season. 

“You work so hard throughout the game … [scoring] is just kind of like the nice reward at the end,” Yeager told the ‘Prince.’

The fourth quarter continued with no shots by Maryland and two unsuccessful offensive corners for Princeton. As the game neared conclusion, Maryland swapped out their goalie for an additional field player, however no shots were taken by Princeton after this substitution with four minutes left in the game. 

This victory concluded Princeton’s third-to-last regular season game and final out-of-conference game for the year, as the team looks ahead to postseason play, their hopes for the Ivy League, and eventually national titles. 

“[The] focus right now is locking up the Ivy’s here on Sunday,” Head Coach Carla Tagliente told the ‘Prince.’ “The next step is for us to win that tournament and make a run in the postseason.”

Princeton did just that — defeating Dartmouth (3–12, 0–6) on Sunday afternoon to claim the Ivy League regular season title for the 28th time in program history, the Tigers can officially start to look towards postseason play. 

Devon Rudolph is a News contributor and a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince’ from Fairfax, Va.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

After going up 24-21 late in the opening set against Washington, Maryland volleyball looked poised to get its first set victory since Oct. 5. But the Huskies responded with two straight points of their own, putting the Terps at risk of blowing a lead eerily similar to Friday’s match.

Instead, pin hitter Samantha Schnitta clobbered a kill down the line — her fifth of the opening set — to give Maryland the set win. Schnitta, the team’s leader with 238 kills, entered the match in the midst of her worst three-game stretch of the season, recording just 20 kills.

The Terps headed into Seattle, Washington, hoping to avoid six matches without a set victory. Maryland left the road trip with some progress, but still fell in four sets on the road.

“Disappointed with the result, no moral victories,” head coach Adam Hughes said. “We want to find ways to get wins, and I think we’re capable of doing that here. Just came up a little bit short.”

Outside hitter Sam Csire, who led the Terps (10-11) with 10 kills against No. 11 Oregon, opened the scoring with a kill before recording a second one just two points later. Maryland got out to an early 4-1 lead.

Back-to-back joint-blocks from setter Sydney Dowler and middle blocker Anastasia Russ extended the Terps’ lead to six, 11-5. But the Huskies (16-4) stormed back with eight consecutive points, giving themselves a two-point lead. Outside hitter Kierstyn Barton had three kills during this stretch.

Trailing 15-13, Maryland scored five straight points including a service ace from defensive specialist Lilly Gunter and a kill from middle blocker Eva Rohrbach. Back-to-back kills from Washington outside hitter Madi Ensley helped knot the score at 21 apiece. But Maryland closed out the first set with four of the last six points, en route to a 25-23 set victory.

“I thought we did a good job in game one of standing tall,” Hughes said. “Had a chance there to maybe panic a little bit, but we didn’t and found a way to execute.”

The Terps’ momentum quickly vanished after the Huskies got out to an 8-2 lead in the second set. Barton led the run with three early kills. Rohrbach cut the Maryland deficit to three with a kill, the closest it ever got in the set.

An attacking error from Csire pushed Washington ahead by six, 15-9. Outside hitter Sydney Bryant tried to give the Terps some sort of spark with three kills. However, consecutive service aces from libero Lauren Bays eliminated any hope of that, making the score 23-14.

A service ace from Dowler and one kill apiece from Csire and Schnitta were late consolation points before middle blocker Katy Wessels closed it out for Washington. Maryland fell 25-17 in the second set.

The Huskies sprinted out to an early 5-0 lead in the third set after two kills from Ensley. But Maryland stormed right back, cutting the deficit to two. Schnitta and Dowler led the charge with two and one kills, respectively, while Dowler also added a service ace.

A tip-shot over the net from Russ leveled the score at 13 apiece before Csire moved the Terps in front with a service ace. With Maryland ahead 18-17, another service ace from Bays helped push Washington in front, 21-18.

Two kills from Csire — including one to the deep left corner — were followed up by a service ace from Dowler, tying the set at 23 apiece. On the seventh set point, Ensley tipped the ball just inside the sideline, and the Terps fell 31-29 in the third set.

Dowler helped push Maryland in front, 4-1, in the fourth set after her fourth service ace of the match. But two kills from outside hitter Kiune Fletcher moved the Huskies in front by one. A service error from Wessels temporarily tied the score at five, before Washington rattled off four quick points.

After Schnitta’s 13th kill of the match, Bryant stuffed the Huskies’ attack at the net, cutting the Terps’ deficit to two. With Maryland down 11-10, Washington went on a run of its own, capped off by a service ace from Endsley.

But the ensuing Huskies’ serve went straight into the net, moving the score to 15-12. An emphatic kill from Russ looked to provide a spark that the Terps so desperately needed. The Huskies had other plans, though, scoring six of the next eight points. Stepping behind the service line, Schnitta wrecked havoc, helping Maryland muster up three points.

An attack from Bryant was stifled at the net, moving Washington two points from the finish line. Consecutive kills from the Huskies closed out the forth set, 25-19.

“The biggest thing in game two and four was just big serving runs,” Hughes said. “We got stuck in a rotation each time, and at the elite levels, those things just get smaller. If you miss, you got a five or six-point run, it’s really hard to work your way back out of that.”

Three things to know

1. Set-drought over. Maryland was able to pick up its first set win in three weeks. After going scoreless against four ranked teams, the Terps closed out the opening set in the match before falling in the latter three.

2. Balanced offense. Led by 14 kills from Csire, Maryland had a very spread-out attack. Three players had double-digit performances, including Schnitta and Bryant with 13 and 10, respectively. Dowler and setter Zoe Huang combined for 44 assists.

“The setters did a good job of mixing and matching a little bit,” Hughes said. “Game one we passed really well. … I think we had 18 kills. That was pretty much because we were in system.”

3. Six-straight losses. Despite the first set win, Maryland has now fallen in six consecutive matches. The Terps have a 1-9 conference record and are tied for 16th in the Big Ten. Maryland returns home to face No. 10 Purdue on Friday.