Maryland women’s soccer plays Wisconsin to scoreless draw on the road

Maryland women’s soccer played a physical but evenly matched game against Wisconsin on Sunday, drawing 0-0.

Both teams showed no trouble in finding shots this game, as both teams combined for 22 shots (Maryland 12, Wisconsin 10), with each team getting four shots on goal. Alyssa Poarch and Hope Lewandoski led the way for Maryland with three shots apiece, while Wisconsin had three different players with two shots a piece.

Wisconsin had the edge early on in regard to scoring opportunities, keeping possession of the ball for most of the first half. The Badgers were able to find gaps in the Terp defense and connect on passes to get on goal, but were only able to manage four shots over the half and only one on goal. So although Wisconsin looked in control, Maryland’s defense bent but did not break.

There were a few injuries mixed into the first half as well, both coming at the expense of the Terps. Junior midfielder Darby Moore got tripped up trying to make a run, spending a bit of time on the field to get checked out by trainers before having to leave the game. Poarch also got nicked up, colliding with a Badger defender on an attempted header, but stayed in the game after being cleared by the team.

All things considered, though, Maryland was able to fend off Wisconsin for the first 45 minutes of the game, taking the Badgers into the half tied at 0-0.

The Maryland attack looked stronger in the second half, doing a better job of taking the ball deep into the attacking third and making the Wisconsin goalkeeper work. Midfielder Hope Lewandoski nearly gave the Terps the lead in the 61st minute, breaking away from the defense to get a clean look on goal but had her shot saved away and out of bounds to end the chance.

Maryland kept up the attack for the rest of the half, generating a few more chances on goal, while holding Wisconsin in check. But while they had their opportunities, none were converted into goals and the teams went into overtime still tied at 0-0.

Each team had a decent opportunity to end the game in the first overtime period, but neither were able to be turned into goals. Around the midpoint of the period, Wisconsin was able to place a corner kick right at the head of a leaping forward, but the ball just sailed over the crossbar. As for Maryland, Poarch found herself in an excellent spot to try and win the game, but was forced to hit the ball with her left foot and hit it within reach of the goalkeeper.

Maryland will be back in College Park this week, as the Terps take on Illinois on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.

Three things to know

1. Erin Seppi made her first appearance since Aug. 31. Following a bit of a rough go of it on Friday against Minnesota, Rachel Egyed was swapped for Seppi at halftime of Sunday’s game. Although Leone has stated in the past that he sees goalkeeper like any other position and doesn’t have any issue with rotating Egyed and Seppi, Egyed has clearly been the go-to option for most of this season. We’ll have to see whether he goes with Seppi in any of the team’s final seven games.
2. Maryland played well against a good team. Although the result was a draw, Maryland can’t help but feel a little good about this performance. After not registering a shot on goal against Rutgers, the Maryland offense looked much more competent against a Wisconsin team that came in at 8-2-2, a nice response for a unit that has had it’s share of struggles this season.
3. Darby Moore could miss some time. After suffering an injury in the 20th minute, Moore ended up missing the rest of the game. Moore has been one of the offensive leaders for the Terps so far this season, and would losing her for an extended period of time right in the middle of Big Ten play could be a killer for the Maryland attack, although they did play well in her absence today.