Maryland women’s soccer had kept pace with No. 12 UCLA for nearly the entire game.
But in the 70th minute, the Terps’ defense received a massive blow. Paige Foye, who was issued a yellow card earlier in the game, took down a Bruins attacker to prevent a breakaway and was shown a red card.
Just minutes after Maryland went down a player, UCLA capitalized. Oruha Hayashi headed the ball past Faith Luckey, which gave the Bruins a lead they would not give up. Maryland’s offense was held scoreless for the fifth
straight Big Ten game en route to a 2-0 loss to UCLA.
“It is what it is, and everybody will know that it obviously affects the way that the game goes for the last 20 or 30 minutes…” head coach Michael Marchiano said. “So we’re disappointed by that, and at the same time I thought our team, before the red card and after the red card, fought, and we definitely fought until the very end.”
While ultimately the goalless result continues a long trend of lackluster offense, Maryland’s attack looked much improved early on.
The first chance came on a Jolie Farmer breakaway, but she took too much time to set herself and failed to get off a shot. Farmer had another chance in the sixth minute on a great cross into the box but was called offside.
Farmer sent a cross of her own into the box, but again, UCLA’s defense cleared it before the Terps could generate a shot.
Maryland had another great chance in the 19th minute coming off a set piece. Ary Oliver sent a great ball into the box right to the head of Dani Gichner, who put the header just wide of the post.
Just minutes later, the Terps had another massive opportunity on a Peyton Bernard breakaway in the box. Despite being on the doorstep of the goal, Bernard’s shot was blocked by UCLA’s defense.
“I thought off the top of my head, there was a balanced distribution of execution and performance level,” Marchaino said. “From the variety of players that we had on the field, and I think better performances lead to better chances, and maybe that’s what we saw today.”
Even with the increased opportunities, the same struggles recurred for Maryland – it had just one shot on goal. The lack of shots on goal is something that has been a problem all season and, despite the uptick in chances, that continued Sunday.
UCLA’s offense had a fair share of its own shot attempts in the first half, including a shot by Grace Shank that soared just past the crossbar. The Bruins had six shots in the first half as the Terps’ defense struggled to contain their attack.
While Maryland’s backline had its hands full with UCLA’s offense, Luckey held her own to weather the storm, making two impressive first-half saves.
Luckey was phenomenal against the relentless Bruins attack, making six total saves to keep the Terps in striking distance throughout most of the game.
Early in the second half, the Bruins started to take control of possession, not allowing the Terps’ offense to continue their momentum. The Bruins’ attack continued to barrage the Terps with shots, producing six in the first 15 minutes of the second half alone.
UCLA had a chance to take advantage of its sustained possession, but a dangerous shot from Shank bounced off the crossbar and safely out of bounds. In the 69th minute, Shank had another long-distance shot, but the woodwork yet again blocked her chance.
Ultimately, after holding out on defense, being down a player was too much for the Terps’ backline to handle.
UCLA ended with 21 total shots in the game — 15 coming in the second half alone. With that level of offensive volume, it was only a matter of time before the Bruins found a way to break through the Terps’ backline.
After allowing the backbreaking goal to Hayashi, Maryland couldn’t find any rhythm for the remainder of the game. UCLA controlled possession, bleeding out the clock without much resistance from the Terps.
Hayashi added on an insurance goal and beat Luckey again in the 87th minute to put the game on ice.
Maryland still searches for its first goal against a conference opponent, and their first goal since Sept . 6.
Three things to know
- Player down killed the Terps. A positive result felt very much in reach for the Terps until Foye was sent off. Maryland never rebounded from its player-down disadvantage, but as the Terps search for something positive through Big Ten play, there is plenty of positivity from a respectable effort against a ranked team.
- The hard part is over, with one exception. In the Terps first five Big Ten games, they played four of the best teams in the conference, and three teams currently in the top 20. Outside of No. 2 Michigan State, whom Maryland will play later in the year, the Terps will not play a team ranked that highly the rest of the season.
- The offense showed improvement. Maryland has more opportunities against the Bruins than any other team they have played since Big Ten play started. While nine shots and four shots on goal are not eye-popping numbers, the improvement was very noticeable for the Terps’ attack.
