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When the Maryland men's soccer team takes on No. 17 Washington on Friday, the No. 20 Terrapins will be looking to get off a two-game winless streak.
The topsy-turvy nature of this Maryland men's soccer season has continued over the past two weeks, and not in a good way.
In their last two games, the Terps tied 0-0 with Indiana on the road and lost at home 2-1 to Delaware. Prior to that, they had won two straight and scored six goals. This has been the nature of Maryland's season, and the team will be looking to to change things up with a win over the Huskies before Big Ten play wraps up. Maryland faces Ohio State and Rutgers to close out the conference slate, and those two teams currently rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the Big Ten standings, with Maryland sandwiched in between.
Washington itself has had a tough run of late. Before a 1-0 road win over Oregon State at home, the Huskies had gone three without a win, all in conference play, and didn't score a goal in the final two. They've been a strong team all year long though, with just two defeats on their ledger, to go along with six wins and five draws.
How to watch
TV: None
Online: BTN2Go
Twitter: Follow Maryland Men's Soccer
When: Friday, October 23rd, 7:30 PM
Players to watch
Ryan Herman, Goalkeeper - The Huskies goalkeeper ranks third in the country in save percentage at .889, and anchors the nation's sixth-best defense in goals-against average. And his numbers aren't just bolstered by not facing a lot of shots. Herman has made 56 saves this season, which is just outside the top 30 in the country, and among goalies that are top-10 in save percentage, only one has made more saves than Herman.
Ian Lange, Midfielder - Washington's attack is far from prolific, and they've struggled in the goal-scoring department all season. But with fellow midfielder James Moberg out, Lange is the best bet to get something going forward for the Huskies. He has two goals this year, and has been top two or three on the team in shots all season long.
Strengths
Defense - As mentioned above, Washington is 6th in the country in goals against average. They've posted 11 clean sheets this season, and didn't give up a goal this season until game six. They've got a great goalkeeper, and have a strong, sound structure. They'll be tough to find a goal against for a Maryland team that's struggled with that all season.
Scoring from defenders - UW has gotten three goals from defenders this season. Two from Quentin Pearson (in one game), and one from Justin Schmidt. While they may not be great at scoring goals, the Huskies do a good job of getting it from different places when needed.
Weaknesses
Scoring goals - Yeah, this is a huge weakness. Washington has just 14 goals in 13 games this season, That's way down at 154th in the country. They've hit multiple goals in just three games this season, and have more than one in only one game since Sep. 18.
Creating chances - You can say this goes hand in hand with not scoring goals, but there are teams who create good chances but for a variety of reasons aren't able to put the ball in the back of the net. Washington is one of those teams. The Huskies are 81st in shots on goal per game, averaging just a shade over five.