Maryland women’s soccer’s offensive woes continue in 1-0 loss to Rutgers

Rutgers had been putting pressure on the Terps’ goal all day without any success. But that changed in the 85th minute. 

The Scarlet Knights finally found their breakthrough when they were awarded a penalty off a foul by Catherine DeRosa at the top corner of the box. Kylie Daigle buried her penalty past the outstretched arm of Liz Beardsley to put Rutgers up, 1-0, in the waning minutes of the contest.

That one goal was all the Scarlet Knights (6-5-3, 2-3-1) needed to down Maryland women’s soccer (3-6-5, 0-5-1 Big Ten), 1-0, handing the Terps their fourth straight loss.

Maryland coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer faced her former team, where she played collegiate ball and spent 14 years as an assistant coach. 

“I think today, we really had something to play for,” Terps defender Katie Coyle said. “A lot of us have a lot of history with the Rutgers team and obviously Meg, so in the locker room before we talked about banding together and playing as one for her and for a great purpose.” 

Rutgers controlled the match throughout, attempting 19 shots, but the Scarlet Knights struggled to be accurate with only six attempts on target. The penalty gave Rutgers the opportunity it needed to come out victorious,

The match was back and forth early on, with Rutgers mustering up a few shots, but nothing dangerous enough to put one past Beardsley. 

The Scarlet Knights played some threatening balls into the box off set pieces that challenged the Maryland defenders to win the ball and clear it out of the box. The Terps have struggled to defend set pieces this season, allowing goals off corners in their past two games. 

A corner in the 22nd minute forced an athletic save from Beardsley to tip the ball out of bounds. 

Beardsley was called on several times in the first half to come off her line and snatch the ball from Rutgers attackers to keep the match scoreless. 

The Scarlet Knights started to ramp up the pressure offensively as the half continued, slowly building toward a boiling point. Rutgers attempted 10 shots in the first half, but only three were on target. Many of their attempts were instances of players blasting shots from outside the box over the net. 

“I felt like the shots they had, besides a couple, were 20 yards out,” Nemzer said. “I’ll give up those shots. We spoke about this like we bend but don’t break, and I thought that they stuck together.” 

The Terps were stout defensively, making things tough on the Rutgers offense. But they struggled to clear the ball and get out of their own end. Maryland only attempted one shot in the first half, an easily saveable attempt from senior defender Caroline Koutsos in the 45th minute. 

Junior forward Riley Tiernan gave the Maryland defense trouble with her ability to beat players on the dribble and deliver good service into the box. She led Rutgers with three shot attempts in the half. 

The Scarlet Knights picked up where they left off in the second half, continuing to control the flow of the match and dominate possession. However, they also again struggled to hit the target, skying multiple shots over the net. 

The game was physical throughout with multiple stoppages for injuries occurring and  The stop and start nature of the match led to relatively little action during the middle part of the second half. 

Kennedy Bell was awarded a yellow card for a rough challenge in the 68th minute. 

“I thought we got into good tackles,” Nemzer said. “I thought they fought for each other today.”

A floated ball from freshman forward Lisa McIntyre found freshman midfielder Hannah Schapiro in front of the goal in the 70th minute for a perfect opportunity. Schaprio volleyed the ball off the bounce but her shot was high and flew over the net.

The Terps found another great chance in the 83rd minute when sophomore midfielder Ava Morales played a pass to Bell, who was standing alone at the top corner of the box. The chance went squandered as Bell mishit the shot and the ball fell harmlessly wide. 

Following Daigle’s goal, Maryland tried to ramp up the pressure and push more numbers forward. But the Terps mishit passes and miscommunications caused breakdowns in the final third. The Scarlet Knights ran the clock out and prevailed with a 1-0 victory.

“The thing I want to make clear is that is our floor now,” Nemzer said. “And if that’s our floor and we continue to get better, to me that’s successful.”