Maryland didn’t stop Kylie Ohlmiller.

Maryland made the cardinal sin of trying to play catch-up against Stony Brook.

And yet when the clock hit zero, Maryland found a way to beat Stony Brook and advance to the NCAA semifinals for the ninth straight season.

The unbeaten and No. 1-seeded Terps led for just 2:14 of the contest, but a strong second-half rally resulted in a 13-12 victory over a No. 8-seeded Stony Brook team that made a strong case to support its claim that it deserved more respect from the NCAA selection committee.

“Credit to Stony Brook, they had a great season and came out and played very well today,” Maryland head coach Cathy Reese said. “I'm proud of the way this team grouped together and fought their way back to win today.”

Stony Brook’s zone defense left Maryland frustrated for most of the first 20 minutes of the game. When the Terps tried to dodge, they suddenly found themselves double, if not tripled-teamed. When they tried to find a cutter, they found a player marked. When they tried to skip a pass, they found sticks knocking down the pass.

It resulted in a 6-2 Stony Brook lead before the Terps finally got some things going. Zoe Stukenberg’s goal as the first-half horn sounded pulled the Terps to within 7-6 at halftime.

The momentum was short-lived. Stony Brook was rejuvenated at halftime and the Seawolves’ Samantha DiSalvo struck first in the second half, giving Stony Brook an 8-6 lead just two minutes into the half. Stony Brook stretched the lead to as many as four goals, taking an 11-7 lead on Taryn Ohlmiller’s goal with 14:57 remaining.

Taylor Hensh answered just 24 seconds later, kicking off a quick three-goal burst in a span of just 94 seconds. Giles scored just 17 seconds after Hensh’s goal and then Hensh scored again at the 13:23 mark to cut Stony Brook’s lead to 11-10.

Taryn Ohlmiller ended the run to put Stony Brook up 12-10 with 11:35 to play, but that was the final goal of the game for the Seawolves. Maryland’s Megan Taylor made a pair of saves to keep the Terps within two goals, and then Giles scored with 8:56 left.

Maryland tied it 12-12 on Caroline Steele’s man-up goal with 3:18 to play after Stony Brook’s Carolyn Carrera was hit with a yellow card. Steele won the ensuing draw and then Stukenberg found Hensh on the doorstep with 2:14 to play to give the Terps the go-ahead goal.

PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER

Kali Hartshorn won the next draw and the Terps burned up most of the shot clock until Stony Brook goalie Anna Tesoriero made her 13th save with 1:06 to play, but Steele picked up the ground ball and the Terps were able to run out the clock.

Stony Brook’s strong defense came at a cost. The Seawolves were whistled for 58 fouls, compared to 15 for Maryland, which helped lead to 11 free-position shots for Maryland. The Terps converted just two of those shots, and Stony Brook failed on all three of its free position shots.

The other big advantage for the Terps was on the draw. With Hartshorn, a freshman, in the circle against three different Stony Brook players, the Terps won 19 of 26 draws, with six of them being gathered up by Hartshorn.

Stukenberg (3g, 2a), Hensh (3g, 1a) and Giles (2g, 2a) led the Terps offense. Kylie Ohlmiller had three goals and four assists for Stony Brook, and her sister, Taryn, added a hat trick. Kylie Ohlmiller finished the season with an NCAA single-season record of 164 points (78g, 86a) and Taryn Ohlmiller went over the 100-point mark, finishing with 65 goals and 36 assists.

Stony Brook finished the season 20-2 while Maryland improved to 21-0 and will face the winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal between Penn State and Princeton in the semifinals next weekend in Foxborough, Mass.