The Maryland Terrapins women’s soccer team, 6-1-1 (0-1), only won one Big Ten game last year. This year, the Terps were undefeated heading into conference play before dropping their first Big Ten to Rutgers on Sunday.
With two more conference games this weekend, Maryland will look to avoid falling down the same path as last year.
The Terps will play two games in three days this weekend as the team will take on both of Illinois’ Big Ten teams in Illinois and Northwestern.
The first matchup will take place in Champaign, Illinois on Friday night as the Terps will face off against the 3-7 Fighting Illini. It has been a rough season for the team as they are coming off a double overtime loss to Penn State on Sunday. Before that loss, the Illini were shutout by Ohio State 7-0 to open up Big Ten play.
Although the season has been a struggle, Illinois still puts up a fight as they have a balanced offense with six players who have scored this season. Sophomore forward Arianna Veland leads the team with two goals.
On paper, this looks like a good matchup for the Maryland offense. Illinois has allowed 21 goals on the season and 79 shots on goal, meaning there could be a few more opportunities for the Terps to put one in the back of the net.
On Sunday, Maryland will travel to Chicago to face off against the Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern currently sits at 4-4-1 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten play, but will square off with Rutgers on Friday night before their matchup with Maryland.
Led by senior goalie Laura Clem who has 39 saves on the season, the Wildcats defense has been stout only allowing 11 goals during their 2017 campaign. The only problem for Northwestern is that the offense has only scored 10 goals this season.
This will be a tough matchup for the Wildcats’ offense as the Maryland defense and junior goalkeeper Rachel Egyed have been stout all year. The Terps 2-0 loss to Rutgers was the first time Maryland had given up multiple goals this season. Northwestern will rely on junior goal scorer Kayla Sharples as she has three goals on the season along with junior Marisa Viggiano and freshman Madi Kennel who both have two goals each.
Overall for the Terps, the offense will look to get back on track after being shutout for the first time against Rutgers. Maryland could benefit from the potential return of freshman Mikayla Dayes who has missed the last three games with a knee injury. Dayes is tied with senior Chelsea Jackson for the team lead in goals with three.
Friday night’s game against Illinois will take place at 8 p.m. while Sunday’s matchup against Northwestern has a 2 p.m. start.
If Maryland were to come out victorious in both matchups, they would surpass their Big Ten win total from last year.
- Maryland volleyball swept by Indiana in second game of weekend homestand - October 7, 2023
- No. 8 Maryland field hockey falls to No. 6 Rutgers in penalty shootout, 3-2 - September 28, 2023
- Maryland women’s soccer stymied by No. 6 Penn State, 4-0 - September 15, 2023
