Maryland women’s soccer hopes to continue best start in years against James Madison

After suffering their first home loss of the year, Maryland women’s soccer heads down to Harrisonburg, Va., on Thursday to play the James Madison University Dukes. 

The Terps (4-2) dropped their first match at Ludwig Field this season after a game full of costly mistakes led to a 3-1 loss to the Florida Gators.

The sloppy play on Sunday led to a season-high nine fouls, highlighted by a questionable red card on defender Mia Mitchell only 20 minutes into the game.

Mitchell was in pursuit of Florida forward Addy Hess as their legs tangled, causing the redshirt freshman to fall to the ground. The referees thought that Mitchell’s contact was deserving enough of a red card, leaving Mitchell and the rest of the sideline visibly frustrated. 

The Terps allowed 21 total shots with 11 on goal against the Gators, while they were only able to collect eight total shots with six on goal themselves. Redshirt junior defender Tahirah Turnage-Morales scored her first collegiate goal, the Terps’ lone goal of the match.

JMU is returning home after an impressive 1-1 draw at No. 9 Penn State, moving them to 3-1-2 on the season. The Dukes put on a strong defensive performance, allowing eight shots and four shots on goal. 

On the other end, however, the Dukes struggled.

They were only able to get four shots of their own, three being on goal. They also committed three yellow card violations at the hands of defender/midfielder Tali Rovner, forward Ginny Lackey and defender/forward Jamie Swartz. JMU committed seven total fouls on the day. 

Foul trouble has not been uncommon for the Dukes so far this season. They have committed 45 fouls through six games this season, along with receiving six yellow cards. JMU committed a season-high 10 fouls in its win over William & Mary.

Apart from a 4-0 loss to Georgetown earlier this season, the Dukes have only given up four goals across their other five games. 

Their defense is highlighted by senior defender Jordan Yang. Yang is the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week after JMU recorded its second shutout of the season in a 4-0 win over William & Mary. She was also named Sun Belt First Team All-Conference last season and Preseason All-Sun Belt Team this year. 

Lackey leads the charge for the Dukes’ offense with a team-high five goals and three assists. She has already had a pair of two-goal performances this year, against George Mason and William & Mary. The sophomore was named Preseason Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year and Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Last season, Lackey was also Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and a semifinalist for college soccer’s most prestigious trophy – the MAC Hermann Trophy Award.   

The Terps will have to play tight and clean defense against Lackey to limit JMU’s scoring threats while also preventing costly fouls from carrying over to this match. 

“While our results have been positive early on, just every phase of the performance is going to have to be at the highest level for us to be competitive moving forward,” Maryland coach Michael Marchiano said. 

If the Terps fall behind the Dukes, they will likely look to their leading shot taker, Ellie Egeland. The sophomore midfielder paces Maryland with 17 shots and 11 shots on goal after adding three shots, with two on goal, to her total on Sunday. 

Maryland goalkeeper Faith Luckey will look to continue to be a wall in front of the net and add to her 20 total saves made on the year. Despite allowing a season-high three goals in the Terps’ loss to Florida, Luckey was able to capture a season-high eight saves.

If Maryland can limit the costly mistakes throughout, limit JMU scoring threats from Lackey and find early scoring opportunities against Duke’s stout defense, the Terps should be able to achieve their fifth win of the year, a feat they have not accomplished since 2019. 

“We want a whole lot more than five wins this season … and so our focus is going to be on the environment and the performance levels and how we behave to try and accomplish that,” Marchiano said.