As Big Ten play opened for Maryland women’s soccer, the Terps traveled about as far away from their home state as possible.
Maryland was warmly welcomed on its cross-country trip to Washington with an onslaught, as the Huskies rattled off 14 shots and eight shots on goal, including two beautiful takes that resulted in highlight-quality goals. The Terps mustered just two shots themselves en route to a 2-0 loss to start conference play.
After taking control of the game right out of the gate, the Huskies
began to apply pressure on the Maryland defense early.
Maryland showed its first signs of life on offense 20 minutes into the game, but Washington would not let the Terps have the momentum for long.
In the 22nd minute, Maylen Montoya found the ball at her feet following a deflection and buried it into the top left corner of the net, evading the desperate efforts of Faith Luckey.
Four of the Huskies’ five wins prior to Thursday had come by just one goal, and Washington took no time to give itself that cushion again early.
Despite conceding the early goal on a shot she had little chance at saving, Luckey ultimately performed well in the first half. The senior goalkeeper made two saves, and despite the Huskies outshooting Maryland 8-1 in the first half, she kept the score in reach early.
Luckey would finish with five saves, a bright spot on a night without many to go around. Her progress in overcoming her early-season injuries and returning to top form would give the Terps a boost going forward.
She couldn’t do everything for the Terps on Thursday, though. And in the second half, Washington followed almost the same script as its opening goal to earn its second.
The scene began once again with Maryland putting together its best offensive possession of the game. Abigail Stager ultimately came up empty.
Moments later, the Huskies would double their lead after Angelica Chou took the ball into the box and curled a beautiful shot past Luckey. Just like on Montoya’s goal, the Maryland goalkeeper had no chance to save the picture-perfect, 56th-minute strike from Chou.
Despite giving up two goals, the Terps’ defense showed signs of what could be a solid backline through Big Ten play. The Huskies came at them with shot after shot, but Maryland’s defenders showed flashes of good team defense.
However, the defensive effort was not perfect, and defending the counter-attack caused problems for the Terps.
Washington created multiple chances by pushing the ball down the field, and the Huskies’ goals either came from, or shortly followed, counterattacks.
On the other side of the ball, Maryland struggled mightily in the possession battle throughout the game. Even with some pushes towards Washington’s final third, the Terps left much to be desired in the final product.
Before Thursday, Washington had already demonstrated an ability to close out games with just a one-goal lead, and it had no trouble holding off the Terps with double the cushion.
Maryland was unable to muster up a late push of any sort, and Washington controlled possession for much of the latter stages of the game, comfortably running down the final minutes from the clock.
Three things to know
1. Where are the shots? The Terps’ offense has been inconsistent all season, but they were completely shut down against the Huskies. Maryland could not muster a shot on goal throughout the first half and attempted just one shot, a Lisa McIntyre attempt from outside the box that missed well wide.
Nobody on the attack found any momentum throughout the night, including both Mckinley Heaven and Peyton Bernard, both of whom came off great performances against Binghamton.
2. Maryland lost the midfield battle. Midfield passing has been an issue all season, and against a top-tier Big Ten opponent, that problem became magnified. Progressing the ball down the field proved difficult all game, with the only option most of the time being to dump the ball back towards the Terps’ fullbacks.
The lone chances of offensive creation came from Maryland’s forwards. Lily Bane and Ella Petry used their speed to push the attack down the field, but without enough support from the midfield, those bursts came few and far between.
3. Wrapping up the West Coast. The Terps will continue their West Coast trip against Oregon on Sunday and will need to find some solutions on offense to avoid heading back home winless in conference play.
