Maryland women's soccer ties Indiana 1-1

Maryland played to a 1-1 draw in Bloomington on Thursday night, earning their first point in Big Ten play. Both teams scored by way of a first-half penalty kick, but couldn't muster anything more in the remaining 65 minutes of soccer.

The Hoosiers drew first blood in the 23rd minute when Alex Anthony and Kayla Shea awkwardly brought down midfielder Jessie Bujouves in the box, giving Indiana a penalty kick. It was the second penalty the Terps have surrendered in as many games. Annelie Leitner finished into the upper right corner to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead, but she did not take the best penalty kick of the half.

Indiana controlled the game after the goal, and looked poised to take the 1-0 lead into halftime, but with about 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Alex Anthony received a pass at the top of the box and was taken down from behind, prompting the ref to point to the spot yet again.

Anthony struck an absolute rocket into the bottom left corner, beating Indiana goalkeeper Sarah Stone despite Stone correctly guessing what direction Anthony would go. Anthony had already shown her ability to put power on a shot in the 23rd minute, when she ripped a free kick with similar ferocity, but it went wide. Anthony had five of Maryland's six shots in the first half, and put three of them on goal.

The Hoosiers also had six shots in the half, but they looked to be the better team for most of the first 45. Maryland were threatening in the beginning of the game, but created less chances as the half went on, the Anthony goal notwithstanding.

In the early stages of the second half, it appeared that Indiana would continue to control play. The Terrapins were really struggling to connect with their passes, leading to Indiana enjoying the lions share of possession, though not doing particularly much with it. One of their best chances came in the 60th minute off a corner kick that sailed over the Maryland defense and found the foot of Cassidy Blacha. Blacha had no defender around her, but all she could do was put a shot wide.

Starting in about the 70th minute, Maryland really found its footing and began to have their passes reach their targets. The Terps moved the ball forward effectively, but couldn't do anything with it there. Once up front, however, Maryland couldn't take advantage of their position. Alex Anthony was dangerous as ever, but she struggled to get shots past the three Indiana defenders that would place themselves between her and the goal. Often, she was forced to make a backpass to escape the pressure.

The game was also riddled with fouls, with Indiana racking up 26 while Maryland committed 11 of their own. The referee doled out four yellow cards, one of which was issued to Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan's bench. Both teams had several free kicks close to goal, but neither could do anything with them.

With the game still knotted at 1-1, the teams headed to overtime. The first 10-minute period was even but rather uneventful, with the Hoosiers taking two shots and the Terrapins just one, and the game was sent to a second, final overtime.

Maryland dominated play in the second overtime, but still managed just one shot. The Terrapins had many chances that were just inches away from being something, but the passes weren't quite crisp enough, or the ball didn't quite bounce the right way, and the chance went by the wayside. The one shot came from Anthony, her game-high eighth of the night, and was a good look at goal without much pressure, but her shot sailed wide right from 15 yards out.

The Terrapins (5-9-1, 0-6-1) snap a six-game losing streak with the draw, and take home a point for the first time in Big Ten play. They return to Ludwig Field on Sunday to play the Purdue Boilermakers (7-7-1, 2-5-1).