Maryland women’s soccer was given issues by cross-state rival UMBC all game long Thursday night at Ludwig Field. None was bigger than forward Payton Schenning’s chance in the 65th minute.
Schenning, marked by Mia Mitchell, received a beautiful pass into the box and turned away from her defender with eyes for goal. But goalkeeper Faith Luckey had other ideas.
Luckey closed in on Schenning and squared up. The forward uncorked on goal, but Luckey quickly got her right leg in the way and deflected the ball
out of bounds.
That quick reaction time was the difference in a game where both sides struggled to capitalize on an abundance of opportunities. The Terps’ one successful conversion made the difference in their 1-0 win over UMBC. With the win, head coach Michael Marchiano has led his squad to its first 3-0 start to the season since 2017 in his first full year at the helm.
Maryland’s attack came out of the gate swinging, with five shots from four different players in the opening 13 minutes. It wasn’t until the sixth shot, courtesy of Ellie Egeland, that it broke through. The sophomore midfielder, making her first start of the season, corralled a header from Alyssa Abramson in front of the net following a corner kick and tapped it past UMBC goalkeeper Sara Gavagan for her first career score.
While the Terps continued to pepper shots throughout the first half, they couldn’t get them toward the net. They outshot the Retrievers a staggering 16-1 in the first half — 11 of those 16 from Egeland, Abramson and Kelsey Smith — but only two were on goal.
Some late-half chippy play heightened tensions in what was already a very competitive affair. Each team was assessed two fouls in the final nine minutes of the first half, and UMBC defender Justine Lamb was given a yellow card.
The Retrievers opened the second half with seven substitutions, and the adjustment paid off. They successfully got the ball into the box early and often in the frame; but whether it was an inaccurate cross, an interception or a deflected shot, they just barely failed to even the score repeatedly.
On the Terps’ side of the field, Smith nearly doubled the lead in the 50th minute. She put a beautiful fake on her defender, pushed the ball downfield and blazed down the wing. She dribbled past a second defender close to goal, but her shot was deflected off target.
Both teams put together runs in the second half that presented danger — including Schenning’s in the 65th minute — but neither could convert. Luckey put together a third-straight impressive performance, further improving faith in her ability to be a worthy successor to Liz Beardsley, and the back line held strong.
Three things to know
1. Egeland’s big game. Egeland put together the best performance of her young career Thursday night. She recorded a career-high seven shots — just one fewer than she had in her first 16 collegiate appearances combined — and recorded three of Maryland’s five shots on target while scoring the game’s only goal.
2. Peyton Bernard appears to be unavailable. The reason Egeland had a chance to shine in the starting lineup was because Bernard, who started the first two games of the season, did not play. Bernard was carted off the field against Saint Francis (PA) with an apparent right leg injury, and her health and status going forward is unknown.
3. Another clean sheet. The Terps are 3-0 for the first time since 2017. Even more impressive, though, is the string of clean sheets their defense has put together. The last time Maryland had shutout wins in the first three games of a season was 1996 — it went 19-5-2 that year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
