Maryland women’s soccer drops close match against No. 23 Wisconsin, 2-1

Alina Stahl’s early goal with only 9:44 shaved off the clock would ultimately go for naught against Wisconsin, as the Terps’ hard-earned lead proved to be not enough to hold back the red-hot Badgers, who now claim their seventh victim in a row.

Maryland’s lone score to go up 1-0 under ten minutes in was enough to inspire the Terps for the first 45 minutes, given that Stahl managed to bury a goal on their very first shot of the night. However, the Badgers came out of the half strong, burying a pair of goals in the first 18 minutes of the second period to pull off a come-from-behind win to leave the Terps completely shell- shocked.

The Terps, who hadn’t lost back-to-back games at any point this season leading into last Thursday, lost 2-1, and have now dropped three straight to Big Ten opponents to slip to 2-4-5 on the season.

Maryland women’s soccer looked to snap a two-game skid against No. 23 Wisconsin Thursday.

The Badgers took control of the ball with the opening tip, retaining control for the first few minutes as they tested the Maryland defense. They’d go on to control the ball for the majority of the first ten minutes, with the Terps getting no chances to start.

Emory Wegener was set to hold down the fort in goal for the second straight game and her third this season, taking over for usual starter Madeline Smith against yet another ranked opponent.

Waterman helped set the tone from this early point, getting a sliding steal on Big Ten leading scorer Emma Jaskaniec. The Terps understood from the jump that this was the player to hone in on, as Jaskaniec had a goal and an assist in Wisconsin’s conference home opener against Indiana Sunday.

Despite Wisconsin’s consistent dominance to start, at the 35:16 mark Stahl got one to go in early off of a Mia Isaac assist on Maryland’s first real march downfield. The score was Stahl’s fourth of the season and Isaac’s first assist.

Stahl took another try in the 18th minute to double down on the Badgers as they found themselves in the hot seat for a change, but her second shot of the night sailed just above the crossbar. While this attempt didn’t pan out, the pressure was not alleviated from Wisconsin as long as the Badgers remained scoreless.

The Badgers looked somewhat out of sorts in the minutes that followed, with their passing game seeming abnormally out of sync as they squandered chances downfield.

The remainder of the half saw both teams exchange unsuccessful campaigns into each other’s territory. Maryland’s slowed offense gave Wisconsin the chance to show its defensive chops.

Maryland closed out the final minutes going into the break continuing to apply pressure on the Badgers’ back line, maintaining the threat of potentially doubling their score in the waning minutes.

Stahl alone took all three of Maryland’s shots in the first 45 minutes. Wisconsin paled in comparison with only one at the half.

It didn’t take long for the Badgers to find an answer to the adversity in the second period, with Rylee Howard’s second goal of the season off of a Maddie Ishaug pass at 53:21 getting the Badgers right back in the game. 

Wisconsin used this newfound momentum to their advantage, striking gold again at 63:08 in the form of a Natalie Viggiano score, assisted by Aryssa Mahrt. The Terps, seemingly in the blink of an eye, appeared to have the rug taken out from under them.

The Terps looked largely subdued following their blown lead. Alyssa Poarch took a try a few minutes later to try to energize Maryland, but her shot went straight into keeper Erin McKinney to send them right back on defense.

Maryland, to their credit, didn’t let Wisconsin cruise from this point on. The Terps made the Badgers continue to work, doing their best to make sure that they don’t fall down further so as to stay in the game.

They had their chances down the stretch, as Stahl took one more try with just over two minutes that was deflected, but created a scrum that ended with a Wisconsin free kick that would close the door on this night’s match.