Maryland women’s soccer finished up its weekend in Philadelphia on Sunday, but the offense still couldn’t get in the scoring column as the Terps lost to Drexel, 1-0.
Like the Temple game, Maryland’s offense was finding and creating opportunities, but just couldn’t seem to turn them into goals. In the 14th minute, Jarena Harmon got past her defender and was on her way to a one-on-one with the Drexel goalkeeper. She played it inside, looking as if she was trying to get around the keeper to put it in, but the ball was deflected on it’s way to goal and missed the target.
Despite missing out on a big chance, the Terp offense remained steady. A large part of the offensive attack was centered on getting the ball wide and crossing into the box for a headed opportunity, with crosses from Hope Lewandoski and Darby Moore finding their way into the box but just not to the head of a Maryland forward.
The teams went to half scoreless, but it was beginning to feel like it wouldn’t be much longer before Maryland would convert on one of its chances.
Things began to turn a bit in the second half, though, as the Drexel offense began to emerge and produce shots. It was a particularly busy half for Rachel Egyed, who was forced to make a few far-from-routine saves to keep the Dragons off the scoreboard, including a diving stop from point blank range in the 85th minute. Malikae Dayes and Adalee Broadbent were also fairly active, having to break up and clear several attacks from the Drexel offense.
The Maryland defense survived Drexel’s attacks on goal without really creating as much themselves, outside of a Hope Lewandoski chip attempt that sailed too high. So, still tied at 0-0, the teams entered overtime.
With a defense that was likely exhausted from Drexel’s pressure and 90+ degree weather, the Dragons were eventually able to find the soft spot in the Maryland defense to win the game. Coming off the foot of Shaelyn McCarty, the ball was played perfectly into the box, where freshman Morgan Rees was able to volley off her inside foot and into the back of the net.
Maryland will be back at home for the next five games, with the next one being against UCF on Thursday.
Three things to know
- Rachel Egyed played her best she has all season. On a day where Maryland’s offense was more stagnant as it’s been all season, the team had no choice but to rely on their senior goalkeeper. Egyed reached a new career-high in saves with nine, including several where she was forced to react in a split second to keep the ball out. The loss isn’t on her by any stretch.
- Maryland’s scoreless streak is now at 300 minutes. The last time Maryland scored a goal was against Appalachian State over eight days ago. Since then, the team has had opportunities, but just can’t seem to finish them. There’s only so much the defense can do, and with the schedule only getting harder as the season goes on, the offense is running out of time to figure things out.
- Maryland kept it close, but lost both games this weekend. Like it has been all season, the Maryland defense has been terrific. The strong goalkeeping matched with the composed tackling has kept Maryland in games this season, but wasn’t enough this weekend. Now, with their record at 2-3-1, the Terps find themselves below the .500 mark despite only allowing two goals their last three games.