Maryland women’s soccer stymied by No. 6 Penn State, 4-0

By: Wade DeVinney

It was a boring match for Penn State goaltender Katherine Asman as she didn’t have to do much thanks to her offense’s success.

Maryland women’s soccer (3-2-4) failed to register a shot on goal against No. 6 Penn State (7-0-1). The Terps’ defense struggled equally, resulting in a 4-0 defeat to the Nittany Lions.

Terps goalkeeper Liz Beardsley was able to keep it a one-score game going into halftime with five saves, giving up the lone goal of the first half just six minutes into the contest to defender Kate Wiesner. But Beardsley failed to limit Penn State’s offense in the second half, allowing three goals as the match devolved into a blowout.

Early on, defender Kennedy Bell intercepted a pass and took a shot at the goal 12 minutes into the game, though it missed wide left. It turned out to be one of only two shots Maryland took all game, neither of which were on goal.

A bad sign for the Terps came in the first half, when forward Madison Krakower went to the ground 27 minutes into the contest having injured her ankle. The Maryland athletic staff helped her off the field, and she later was in crutches in the bench area.

Maryland started to play more aggressively to start the second half, getting more pressure in Penn State’s territory than in the previous 45 minutes. But the match still played out mostly in the Terps’ territory for the rest of the duration.

Penn State defender Ellie Wheeler scored her first goal of the year 59 minutes in. It was also defender Eva Alonso’s second assist of the night, having passed out a corner kick for the previous goal.

Midfielder Olivia Borgen became the year’s leading scorer for the Nittany Lions 10 minutes later after notching her fourth goal of the season to bring her club’s lead to three. It also counted for Alonso’s third assist of the night.

Penn State got a scoring opportunity with less than eight minutes left in which Maryland’s defense completely dissolved in front of the net, and forward Rebecca Cooke capitalized for the final goal of the night, putting the Nittany Lions up by four in an excellent showing from their offense.

Maryland will return to College Park to take on Purdue on Thursday, looking to get back in the win column.