Maryland women’s soccer finishes with 1-1 draw against Temple in 2OT

Maryland women’s soccer coach Ray Leone was just seconds from notching his 300th career win. The achievement seemed sealed, but it wasn’t.

With just 50 seconds left on the clock, Temple’s Marissa DiGenova rolled one by Maryland goalie Erin Seppi to spoil the Terps 1-0 lead, sending the game to overtime.

Despite having plenty of chances, Maryland couldn’t make the most of the opportunities when it mattered most, settling with a 1-1 draw after two overtime periods.

“It’s disappointing, it’s inexperience,” Leone said. “You got to close the game, you got to be smarter where the ball is. The ball has to be in the corner, that’s it.”

In the second overtime period, forward Alyssa Poarch was on her way to attempt a game-winner when she was tripped up by a Temple defender, resulting in the game’s first yellow card. Midfielder Sydney Staier took the free kick, but sailed it high over the goal.

“We really have to focus on capitalizing on those opportunities,” midfielder Anissa Mose said. “This is something that’s been going on every game...it’s something that we really need to work on.”

While the Terps couldn’t end in the win column, they seemed in control of the game for most of the night. Their 25 shots recorded as a new season high, vastly outnumbering the Owls’ 14.

“It’s positive that we’re having that offensive presence,” midfielder Hope Lewandoski said. “But at the end of the day we need to focus because if they’re not in the back of the net, it doesn’t really matter.”

But in familiar struggles, Maryland couldn’t make the most of the opportunities when it mattered most, unable to come away with the win.

The Terps’ sole score of the game came in the 37th minute. Forward Keyera Wynn received a short pass from fellow forward Emily McNesby and immediately poked a floater over the leaping Temple goalie Morgan Basileo, who had just stood up after diving for the initial pass.

While they never scored, leaders on the attack, Poarch and Mikayla Dayes, continued to shoot at will against Temple. Poarch, who fired off the first shot of the night within the first minute, finished with nine total shots and two shots on goal.

On the defensive end, Seppi, the Big Ten Co-Goalkeeper of the Week, notched three saves in the win. The senior has surrendered just two goals in her last three games.

Shots were hard to come by for the Owls in the first half with only two, but their nine in the second would eventually lead to the goal in the final seconds of regulation.

Three things to know

1. Maryland struggled with corner kicks — Yet again, the Terps couldn’t make the most of corner kick opportunities. The team totaled 18 corner kicks on the night, besting a new season high that was set two games ago against George Mason. But nothing found the back of the net.

2. Late defensive lapse hurt the Terps — Maryland’s defense has been outstanding in recent games with opposing team only being able to sink one shot in the last three contests. With a lead during the majority of the game, a goal in the 90th minute sent the game into extra periods where neither team was able to capitalize. Instead of walking away from a win, the Terps finish with their second consecutive tie.

“Those are the moments that we really have to stay focused stay composed,” Mose said. “We have to play like we’re up a goal and that’s something we’ve really struggled with.”

3. Leone falls short of win No. 300 — The achievement has been knocking at the door for a while now, and after a disappointing four-win season in 2018, Leone will have to wait a little longer to get to win No. 300. He will have the opportunity against Princeton on Sunday.

“I told them it’s not about being pretty,” Leone said. “It’s about results.”