Maryland women’s soccer looks to shake off road game struggles against No. 7 Iowa

Maryland women’s soccer approaches its final two road games of the season as it finishes its toughest stretch of Big Ten matches against No. 7 Iowa.

In the midst of a three-game losing streak, the Terps won’t have things much easier for them this Thursday. Maryland (6-7-0, 2-4-0 Big Ten) is set to travel to Iowa City, Iowa, for yet another top-10-ranked Big Ten opponent in the Hawkeyes (8-2-3, 3-1-2 Big Ten). 

After two West Coast losses to USC and No. 4 UCLA, the Terps returned to Ludwig Field on Sunday, where they were defeated 2-1 by Illinois after a second-half defensive collapse. 

Despite taking their earliest lead of the season coming off senior midfielder Ava Morales’ fourth goal of the season in the tenth minute, the Terps’ offense couldn’t overcome the team’s defensive struggles. 

Maryland surrendered two goals on 14 shots in the second half. While redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Faith Luckey was able to record eight saves in the second half, Maryland’s lack of press on defense gave sophomore forwards Emma Yee and Cayla Jackson ample room to net goals. 

“I think that there were times where they tried to press aggressively and commit numbers forward, and there were moments in the first half where we dealt with that really well and we were able to control the game through possession,” Maryland head coach Michael Marchiano said. “It’s not like we tried to stop doing that or that they did something different, we just didn’t execute.”

The Hawkeyes are coming off a 1-1 draw with Michigan last Sunday. Despite a huge shot advantage for the Hawkeyes – they outshot Michigan 21-5 – the final score did not reflect Iowa’s offensive dominance. Besides their inability to capitalize on most of their shot attempts, another glaring issue for the Hawkeyes was the 14 fouls they recorded.  

The Terps haven’t fared well against the Hawkeyes historically, with a record of 2-6 in the two teams’ history. They’ve lost their last four matches to Iowa, including a 0-5 defeat in 2023 most recently.

Maryland will look to score its first road goal this season against a stout Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes are 4-1-2 at home this season while allowing only five goals through those seven matches. All four of Iowa’s victories at home this season have come in shutout fashion.

The Hawkeyes have alternated between graduate goalkeeper Taylor Kane and sophomore goalkeeper Fernanda Mayrink. Through six starts this season, Kane has 12 saves with a save percentage of 80%. Mayrink has 17 saves and a 70.8% save rate through seven starts.

Iowa’s offense is one of the conference’s most impressive, ranking third in goals with 24, fourth in assists with 25 and third in shots with 208. They also have a positive goal differential of 14, the second-best in the Big Ten. 

Iowa’s leading contributor on offense is graduate Kelli McGroarty. The forward/midfielder has tallied 13 shots on goal, four goals and one assist this season.

“Iowa is a pretty complete team and they are a team who can be good in possession, who want to build, who are athletic,” Marchiano said. 

The Terps will look to their two top goal-scorers on offense, redshirt junior forward Kelsey Smith and senior midfielder Ava Morales, to find scoring opportunities as quickly as they did in their previous match. The two have almost identical stats with four goals, two assists and 22 shots taken on the season.

On the other side of the pitch, the Terps will look to Luckey to continue her hot streak. Coming off a season-high nine-save performance, Luckey’s 57 saves this season are tied for second-most in the Big Ten. If the defense can play more organized and effectively, Luckey will hopefully receive a lighter load in front of the net.

“We need to keep the ball a little bit better and we need to progress up the field,” Marchiano said. “When we do lose the ball, we have to make sure that we make the opponent earn everything by us being really organized and our players being really sharp in their duels.”

The Terps are still searching for their first road win and goal of the year, but they are running out of time. If Maryland is unable to accomplish either feat against Iowa on Thursday, it will come down to its final away game against Nebraska on Sunday.