Maryland women's soccer beats Michigan State 1-0, gets first Big Ten win of the season

Stormy Weather

Michigan State was supposed to come to Ludwig Field in the first week of October but Hurricane Joaquin had other ideas. The game was postponed and scheduled for a rare mid-week game at 4:00 p.m.

A Record Falls

Early in the first half, Alex Anthony tied the Maryland single-season record for shots taken with 84. The record was set in 1996. Anthony broke the record in the 77^th minute.

First Half Struggles

Both teams looked sluggish on offense in the first half. Michigan State's seven shots don't seem like much but they dwarfed Maryland's shot total. The Terps took only one shot in the game's first 45 minutes.

Second Half

Maryland goalie Rachelle Beanlands stepped up to make a clutch save in the 45^th minute.

Riley Barger took a corner kick and after Maryland headed the ball towards the net, Bianchini flew to the goal and finished it off in the 54^th minute. The assists went to Anthony and Maisie McCune.

McCune said that the midfielders and forwards were in sync. "Us five up front worked so much better together than usual. Just more on the same page."

Beanlands made another outstanding save in the 59^th minute that allowed a Michigan State corner kick but she was able to save that one as well.

The entire backline played a great game and head coach Jonathan Morgan said that Shannon Collins' performance stood out. "Shannon Collins was just special today. She intercepted a ton of balls. She did great in one v. one situations. That whole entire backline did a really solid job."

When Morgan was asked to describe his team's performance, he said, "Ugly. Scrappy. I feel great for the kids. I feel great for our staff. We'll take it however we can get it." He said that Bianchini brings a spark to the squad when she's on the pitch and it paid off. "She just works her tail off...and she found a way to get in there and get a goal."

Bottom Line

The Terps (6-10-1) played a gritty 90 minutes and now have their first Big Ten win of the season and surpassed their win total from last year. Maryland's last home game of the season will be against the Big Ten-leading Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night.