Maryland women’s soccer falls to Michigan State 5-0 in lackluster showing

Michigan State’s Zivana Labovic won a header off of a corner in the 20th minute. She directed the ball straight down and scored off the bounce to extend the Spartans’ lead to a comfortable three-goal advantage. 

The Terps recorded only three shots all night.

Maryland women’s soccer (3-4-5, 0-3-1 Big Ten) struggled against Michigan State (8-2-2, 3-0-1 Big Ten) on Thursday, falling 5-0.

“We had heavy legs and I think that played a factor tonight on the result,” coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer said. 

The Spartans dominated the match, attempting 25 shots with ten on target. The Terps struggled to find any rhythm on offense, with only two attempts on goal.

“We get really bogged down focusing on defending and not letting any shots up,” defender Katie Coyle said. “I think the first step towards having a more aggressive offensive presence is just going to be us keeping the ball and building possession up the field, so that’s what we’re missing right now.” 

Michigan State came out of the gate playing with intensity and applying pressure to Maryland’s defense. The Spartans struck first in the tenth minute when Gabby Mueller found space behind the backline and buried her shot into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

“We came in with a game plan and they got an early goal so it took us out of our game plan,” Nemzer said. 

Michigan State didn’t let up from there and continued to push forward. Emerson Sargeant used her speed to slip back the backline in the 15th minute and create another chance. Her shot forced Terps goalkeeper Liz Beardsley to make a strong save, pushing the ball out for a corner.

Jordyn Wickes leaped up and got her head on the ensuing corner. Her shot was on target and headed back and into the net by Maryland’s Lauren Wrigley as she attempted to clear the ball at the last second.

The Spartans utilized the corner as a weapon all match, winning 13 corners and scoring two goals off of them, both assisted by Regan Dalton. 

Michigan State continued to assert its dominance in the 20th minute on another corner, when Labovic scored to further extend the lead as the Terps endured massive struggles quickly into the contest.

They barely possessed the ball into the attacking third for the earlier part of the half, as they had difficulty stringing together passes to move out of their own half of the field.

Maryland began to grow more into the match following the third goal. The Terps started to control the ball more and put slightly more pressure on a Spartans’ defense that hadn’t seen much action up to that point. 

Michigan State made some subs and tried to rotate the group following the strong start, which led to a decrease in the intensity. Despite the short relief from the Spartans onslaught on goal towards the end of the half, Maryland still only attempted one shot. 

The Terps tried to generate more offense in the second half, but their offensive issues continued.

Kennedy Bell carried the ball all the way from her defensive third to the Michigan State box, surging past Spartan defenders in the 58th minute. She launched a rocket towards the goal but was denied as the ball struck the woodwork. 

Bell was a bright spot for Maryland, as she always seems to be, throughout the match. The freshman lifted a cross into the box in the 63rd minute to an open Hannah Schapiro, but the header was pushed high and over the goal.

Michigan State adopted a more patient approach in the second half to see out the rest of the match and defend its lead. But the Spartans remained in total control. 

MJ Andrus buried her strike in the back of the net on her third attempt following consecutive blocked shots to finish off the Terps in the 76th minute. Ranya Senhaji added a fifth goal for good measure in the 88th minute.

“I’m going to continue to say it but one game does not define us,” Nemzer said. “We’ll use this to ignite us and I’m excited to see what our response is going to be on Sunday.”  

Maryland will look to bounce back when it faces No. 22 Michigan next time out.