Maryland women’s soccer drops fifth-straight match to Penn State, 2-0

Less than two minutes into the second half, Maryland was handed its second yellow card in the last 90 seconds, setting Penn State’s Ally Schlegel up with a penalty kick. Madeline Smith, back in goal for Maryland after three consecutive starts from Emory Wegener, got in the way of the strike to keep the Terps within one and briefly alleviate the tense crowd of their worries.

Five minutes later, yet another foul led to the Nittany Lions’ second foul kick of the period. The shot was taken by midfielder Cori Dyke, and the Terps weren’t so lucky this time. The score was doubled to 2-0, a score Maryland never came back from as the Terps were forced to accept their second straight shutout and fifth straight loss, all to Big Ten conference rivals.

Maryland women’s soccer will have to wait until this Thursday to try once more to escape the basement of the conference standings, with its season record dropping to an unimpressive 2-6-5.

“In the Big Ten, every team is talented,” coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer said. “It’s why it’s one of the top leagues in the country, and we can’t have an off-day.”

Penn State led the all-time series against Maryland going into today with a 14-4-0 record. The Nittany Lions were victorious in last year’s meetup, 5-1.

The Terps did what they failed to accomplish in their last pair of matches by taking the first shot of the afternoon, when forward Mikayla Dayes took a stab just under four minutes in. The kick sailed two feet too high, but it showed an early aggression on offense that hadn’t been seen recently from Maryland.

Maryland remained active early, with their defense in Penn State’s territory producing several shot opportunities in the first 15 minutes that they were unable to convert. By the 12th minute, the Terps had already totaled five shots to the Nittany Lions’ one, a stark contrast from last Sunday’s outing.

Despite Maryland’s early fire, it was midfielder Natalie Wilson who broke the early stalemate. Wilson capitalized on Penelope Hocking’s assist to take a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute, getting up close to Maryland goalkeeper Maddie Smith before striking from point-blank range.

Even though they were on the lower end of a 5:2 shot disparity, both of Penn State’s looks were within range of goal, which couldn’t be said about any of Maryland’s attempts.

Maryland got downfield one more time to end the half, eliciting a yellow card out of midfielder Maddie Myers when forward Alyssa Poarch cut through the Penn State defense. Midfielder Sofi Vinas buried a response goal to pull the match even, but the shot was ruled offside and Maryland returned to its scoreless status.

The Terps entered the half down by a score, with their high-pressure defense finally translating into an assertive offense. They had six shots to the Nittany Lions’ four, but looked considerably more energized in comparison to their recent slew of Big Ten matchups.

Defender Malikae Dayes was penalized a yellow card in the 47th minute deep in her own territory, with Maryland successfully fending off the free kick. Maryland tested its luck again on the very next play, with Amanda Schafer being awarded with a card of her own to set the stage for a penalty kick, which Smith successfully broke up to the Terps’ immense relief.

Even though they escaped costly fouls close to their own goal twice already in the second half, the Terps refused to learn their lesson. Maryland defender Mia Isaac’s foul set up yet another kick, which Dyke used to find the back of the net for the Nittany Lions’ second goal of the match. Dyke’s score increased Penn State’s lead to 2-0 in the 52nd minute.

Stahl attempted to rally the troops, marching all the way downfield that same minute, but her strong strike was loudly blocked at the goalline by Penn State goalkeeper Katherine Asman to maintain the shutout. Penn State, who matched Maryland in shots at this point with eight, had yet to shoot outside of goal range while the Terps had only gotten that close once.

In the final third of the period, the Maryland defense surfaced once more, creating chances downfield that weren’t there for a lot of this half. They got a goal kick in the 78th minute, but Catherine DeRosa’s close shot to cut the lead in half again sailed too tall.

The Terps never broke the shutout, as they suffered their fifth straight defeat.

“We’ll learn from this game,” midfielder Catherine DeRosa said. “We’re just trying to control the things that we can, and we’re gonna go back to the drawing board. We’re gonna look at film, look at things we did well, things we didn’t do well, and take that into Ohio State with the same mentality.”