Photo by Dylan Davies/Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.
Looking to bounce back after their first loss of the season, No. 8 Maryland welcomed the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers to Ludwig Field.
Wisconsin entered the game with a 5-0-1 record, coming off a tie against No. 3 Ohio State in their first Big Ten matchup of the season.
In their first six games, Wisconsin scored 17 goals against their opponents’ three. Badgers’ goalkeeper Judewellin Michel, a transfer from Indiana, had accumulated 18 saves and an 86.7% save percentage.
Maryland entered the match 5-1-0, looking to put their 4-0 loss to Northwestern in the rearview and notch another win.
The Terps did just that, as they defeated Wisconsin 1-0.
The first half would go scoreless, but the second half, however, would bring a lot more excitement. Four minutes in, Said El Eyssami would score a header off a free kick from Ljubomir Popovic.
The score remained the same, but Maryland picked up five yellow cards in the span of 12 minutes, all in the second half.
Maryland started this one hot with two shot attempts in the first 90 seconds. The story of the first ten minutes was both teams getting shot attempts, but no real chances.
The first half moved relatively slowly, though, as both teams battled it out mainly in the midfield.
Although Maryland maintained most of the half’s possessions, Wisconsin would take 7 shots to Maryland’s 6.
The second half showed both teams kicking it up a notch, as it was obvious they had some pretty big talks during the break.
Just four minutes into the half, Maryland would take a free kick from what was nearly the corner, and Said el Eyssami would score his fourth goal of the season on a header.
It would remain mostly Maryland possession, and they would do a better job keeping the aggression up, a clear switch from the first half.
That aggression, though, would end up being their Achilles heel. They would pick up five yellow cards in the back half of the second on Lilian Fichelle, El Eyssami, Franklin Affanyi, Dominic Ayella, and newcomer Luka Juricic, coming in after just three practices with the team.
The physicality would stick, and Fichelle exited the game late in the half with a lower-body injury. Casey Price subbed in for him.
As the half drew to a close, Wisconsin picked up their energy a bit as they tried for one last-ditch effort at a goal, but to no avail.
With a 1-0 win, Maryland will continue in Big Ten play against UCLA next Friday, Sept. 25, at Ludwig Field.
