Maryland women’s soccer vs. Drexel final score, with 3 things to know from the Terps’ 2-1 win

After a rain delay pushed the start time back more than an hour, Maryland women’s soccer beat Drexel 2-1 in the team’s season opener.

After the first half concluded in a draw, both teams came out firing in the second. Freshman forward Mikayla Dayes scored the Terps’ first goal of the season, and her first career goal, in the 49th minute on a beautiful chip shot right over the hands of Dragons goalie Christiana Ogunsami.

The Terps had an egregious defensive breakdown on the following possession that led to a Drexel equalizer in the 50th minute from the Dragons’ returning leading scorer, Vanessa Kara.

Maryland would get two more shots on goal before Hope Lewandoski put in the first goal of her career in the 64th minute with a rocket from deep. The Terps tightened up on defense after Maryland’s goalkeeper Rachel Egyed let the first goal past, and the Dragons would get close a couple more times, to no avail.

The first half was close, as the two teams traded possession and struggled to put together runs on goal. Maryland dominated the possession game early, though came up short, before the teams settled into a rhythm near the middle of the first half.

Despite getting four corner kicks in the first 10 minutes, Drexel ended the first half leading the attack on goal, with four shots to just two from the Terps. Maryland had a couple productive runs on goal in the first half that proved fruitless. Senior forward Chelsea Jackson led a charge early, then a Dayes header was stopped with a minute left in the half.

After Maryland went 3-15-1 last season, it’s nice to start the new year with a win. The Terps are back in action at Ludwig against Navy on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

Three things to know

1. Maryland attacked early in each half. The Terps’ attack in the first half led to three corners in the first five minutes, with the fourth coming a little after the 10th minute. As the first half went on, possession would play even. The trend continued at the start of the second half, as the Terps scored both goals in the first 20 minutes of the half.
2. Maryland broke its scoring seal. There will be no scoring drought to start the season for Ray Leone and company. It took a half, but once Dayes broke the seal, the Terps looked much more confident attacking the goal.
3. The freshmen are already contributing. Leone brought in the No. 25 recruiting class in the country this season, and it’s already paying dividends for Maryland. Both of Maryland’s goals came from the freshman class.