Late goal powers Maryland women’s soccer past Indiana 2-1; secures first win vs. Indiana at Ludwig Field

Photo by Kevin Snyder/Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

With under four minutes remaining in the second half, a draw seemed imminent.

But following a turnover near midfield, forward Mckinley Heaven sprinted towards goal. The freshman barely reached the box before ripping a cross-body shot into the lower left corner and past goalkeeper Sally Rainey, giving the Terps a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute.

Backed by Heaven’s late-period goal, Maryland edged past Indiana 2-0 on Thursday. The win is Maryland’s fifth this season — its most since 2019 when the team finished 9-8-3. The win was also the Terps’ first program win against Indiana at Ludwig Field.

Maryland (5-4, 1-1 Big Ten) started much sharper than it had in other recent outings. A defensive takeaway by sophomore midfielder Emily Lenhard soon led to junior forward Lisa McIntyre taking the Terps’ first shot in the fourth minute.

“Coming off of an injury, she’s worked really hard to get back in,” head coach Michael Marchiano said. “For a young player to make that big of an impact is exciting, and now we need to make sure that she continues to develop and work hard.” 

A Lenhard corner kick in the 27th minute gave Maryland its best look of the first half, but redshirt junior defender Tahirah Turnage-Morales’ header in front of the goal was deflected away from the net. 

Maryland controlled the ball for most of the first half, maintaining possession for 65% of the half. The time of possession advantage allowed the Terps to generate four corner kicks throughout the half.

But Maryland struggled to capitalize on its corners as Indiana (3-3-2, 0-1-1 Big Ten) consistently cleared the Terps’ shot and pass attempts.

Coming off the bench for Maryland was its leading shot-taker, midfielder Ellie Egeland. The sophomore recorded her first shot on goal in the 43rd minute, but it was aimed straight at Indiana senior goalkeeper Dani Jacobson.

Defensively, Maryland was tight and repeatedly found ways to give possession back over to their attack, giving the offense more chances to develop shot opportunities. In the Terps’ prior three, they have not taken more than eight shots in a single match.

While both offenses stalled in the first half, they were lively in the second half.

Indiana’s offense thrived in second halves, entering Thursday’s contest notching seven of its 11 goals in the second half. That trend continued as freshman defender Grace Hamm lofted a shot that rolled off the top of Luckey’s fingers, giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.

But just eight minutes later, Maryland’s leader in goals scored tied up the match. 

Sprinting down the field, redshirt junior forward Kelsey Smith slipped a shot from just outside the penalty box through two defenders and past the outstretched goalkeeper, Sally Rainy. The goal was Smith’s team-leading fourth of the season, and it was Maryland’s first goal in two games.

 “A great finish for the work that she had to do to get there,” Marchiano said. “Good goal, but we expect her to do that, and we need her to do that in order for our team to achieve positive results.”

The goal helped ignite Maryland’s offense as it continued to generate good looks afterwards. 

Redshirt junior forward Eva Mowery got an open look in the 80th minute after retrieving the pass from redshirt freshman forward Gemma Davitian, but was shot over the top of the net.

Just minutes later, the Terps capitalized in transition as Heaven’s first collegiate goal proved to be the game-winner and secured Maryland’s first Big Ten win of the season.

“Honestly, just an amazing feeling, very surreal, and I’m just really glad that I came here for my team when they needed me the most,” Heaven said.