Maryland women’s soccer freshman forward Mckinley Heaven broke away and had an open shot on an unkept goal after a defensive miscue in the 59th minute. But her flubbed shot skidded wide right as Heaven looked to the night sky in disbelief. She was immediately subbed out.
The sequence summarized the tone of the match. The Terps were outclassed and outmatched by Penn State in an ugly 4-0 battle Thursday in Happy Valley.
The match started with an immediate scare on a low-driven snipe by Julia Raich in
the second minute. The shot snuck through Faith Luckey’s legs and was trapped on the goalline. After review, it was deemed a no-goal.
On a breakaway run in the ninth minute, a pair of well-touched passes by Aubrey Kulpa and Bella Ayscue set up Amelia White to sneak a low shot left of a diving Luckey.
Kulpa got her own licks in right after and grew the lead to two scores, marking the second goal that minute. This goal snuck past Luckey’s right boot as the Terps looked completely overwhelmed by Penn State’s aggressive attackers.
Eventually, a deflected cross by Kelsey Smith earned Maryland its first corner. But the attempt sailed wide left.
Dominance continued for the Nittany Lions, as a wide open shot for Amelia White banged the left post to deny her a third brace on the season. Another pair of shots grew Penn State’s total to 14 in just the first 21 minutes.
The Nittany Lions launched several more shots at the close of the half, but none found their mark as Penn State maintained its two goal lead. The Terps were outshot, 19-3, in the first half, and had a mountain of work to do to turn the match around.
The beginning of the second half was more of the same, as the Nittany Lions maintained constant possession and pressure on goal. The third goal of the match was notched by Kaitlyn MacBean in the 50th minute as she found the high left corner of the net for her first goal of the season. She then completed a brace on a left-footed dribbler just moments later, in the 53rd minute.
Opportunities finally began to come for Maryland in the final 20 minutes. A pair of long shots for Egeland just missed, with the first being saved and the second just nicking the crossbar.
But as the clock ticked down, Maryland still failed to find the net despite a few outside looks on goal. As the final whistle blew, the scoreboard told the whole story.
Three things to know
1. Shots galore. The Terps were outshot for the third match in a row, this time 27-8. Having less than a third of the shots of Penn State calls for a reset in terms of strategy, placement and overall playmaking.
2. Shutout once more. Maryland was shutout for the second time in a row as offensive opportunities remained slim. If the Terps want to remain in matches against top opponents, it starts with achieving an initial goal before the score gets out of hand as it did tonight.
3. First Big Ten match. The start of conference play was less than ideal for Maryland, as it faced a ranked Penn State squad in a lopsided affair. As Big Ten play continues, the Terps will have plenty to work on and adjust as the program progresses under Marchiano’s leadership.
