Maryland women’s soccer looks to finish its road schedule on a positive note

Photo by Rose Fernandes/ Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

Maryland women’s soccer faces its final opportunity for a road win this season as it travels to Nebraska to play the Cornhuskers on Sunday. 

In Maryland’s (6-8-0, 2-5 Big Ten) prior game, it dropped its sixth away game of the season to No. 7 Iowa. The match was similar to the rest of the Terps’ road losses this season, as they conceded an abundance of shots while managing only a few of their own. 

The Terps’ loss to Iowa may have been their worst road loss this season. They allowed a whopping 27 shots, tying their season high for most allowed, against Penn State, while taking only three shots of their own. The 24-shot differential was the worst this season, passing their previous margin of 19 against Old Dominion. 

Iowa led the match in time of possession with a total possession of 59%. When Maryland had the ball, its leading goal scorers struggled to find opportunities. Senior midfielder Ava Morales had one shot, and redshirt junior forward Kelsey Smith had two shots and Maryland’s only shot on goal.

Nebraska (6-3-5, 1-3-3) is coming off its first conference win this season with a 1-0 victory over Purdue on Thursday. In that match, they outshot the Boilermakers 15-6 with six shots on goal. Graduate student midfielder/forward Reagan Raabe scored the game-winning goal for Nebraska in the 83rd minute. 

In Maryland’s match last season against Nebraska, it didn’t dominate on the stat sheet, but it was opportunistic. Each team tallied seven shots. Maryland had three shots on goal, two saves, and 15 fouls, to Nebraska’s two shots on goal, one save, and 12 fouls. Seven different Terps recorded shots, with goals from then-junior forward Delaney Demartino and former senior defender Katie Coyle.

While the Terps did have success against Nebraska last year and the Cornhuskers have struggled in conference play this season, Maryland’s final road game will still be quite a challenge. 

The Cornhuskers lead the Big Ten in shots taken with 236 while averaging 16.9 shots taken per game this season. Maryland sits second to last in the conference in shots taken, with 136 — only ahead of Rutgers. Despite Nebraska taking more shots, it has scored the same number of goals this season as Maryland — 17. 

Raabe and junior forward/defender Kayma Carpenter have been the leading contributors to the Cornhuskers’ attack this season. Raabe has four goals and is tied for the team lead in assists with four. Carpenter leads Nebraska with five goals and a shot percentage of 25%. 

Defending the net for the Cornhuskers is goalkeeper Cece Villa. The senior has 44 saves and a 78.6% save rate with five shutouts this year. 

The Terps still remain without a road goal this season and will look to find any bit of offensive production in their final road match.

DeMartino and sophomore midfielder Emily Lenhard, both of whom contributed shots on goal in last year’s matchup, can provide possible sparks for the offense in this match. While both have yet to score this season, Demartino has taken six shots with two on goal, and Lenhard has taken four shots with one on goal.

Maryland’s defense, which has been one of the worst in the Big Ten, will hope to end its road schedule on a good note after a poor outing against Iowa. 

The Terps have surrendered 21 goals this season — the most in the Big Ten — in part because of the number of shots they have conceded. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Faith Luckey is ranked second in the conference with 66 saves. 

If Maryland’s defense can limit the number of shots allowed to Nebraska’s attack and get the ball back into possession of its offense more often, the Terps may be able to close out their road schedule with a win.