The Terps remained scoreless under a new head coach.
After parting ways with head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer Thursday morning, Maryland women’s soccer welcomed No. 20 Penn State with a new leader at the helm.
Under interim head coach Michael Marchiano, the Terps showcased improvement, but the coaching change didn’t fix their offensive struggles. Maryland fell to No. 20 Penn State, 5-0, Thursday night in College Park.
“I think it’s a tough scoreline. It’s been a tough day, tough couple of days for our girls,” Marchiano said. “I think for large parts of the game tonight, they represented themselves and this program really well.”
The Terps gained possession from the jump and started the match on the offensive end. There was certainly some added fight in Maryland’s game; the Terps looked much more aggressive.
“We were super pumped about it. Being able to stay that close with that high level of a team like it gave us a lot of confidence.” Liz Beardsley said.
Maryland earned the first corner of the contest, which was taken by Emily Lenhard. She placed the corner perfectly in front of the net for a Taryn Raibon header. But Raibon placed the header barely above the net, and the Terps missed on a dangerous chance in the eighth minute.
In the opening 15 minutes, Maryland saw ample chances and looked like the better team for the first time in weeks.
The Terps made their first mistake of the night in the 18th minute, and it resulted with the ball in the back of the net. Tahirah Turnage-Morales incidentally passed the ball to Penn State’s Kaitlyn MacBean off a slight deflection from Julia Raich in Maryland’s defensive zone.
MacBean only had to beat keeper Beardsley, who dove and missed the ball. MacBean’s 15th goal of the season granted Penn State the early lead.
Despite looking better, the Terps still did not record a shot on goal in the first 30 minutes.
In the 39th minute, Penn State’s Aubrey Kulpa took a shot on the break with Beardsley out of position, but Hallie Johnson came to the rescue and recovered to make the team save for Maryland.
Maryland outshot Penn State, 5-4, in the first half, while the Nittany Lions led in shots on goal, 2-0. The Terps also held 53% of possession in the half.
“I think just being able to capitalize on our opportunities following would put them on their heels, instead of us on our heels in the second half,” Beardsley said. “But I think it’s just great to see that energy wise from from team, because I think that’s something we really.”
Penn State received its first corner of the match in the 54th minute and executed it to perfection. Bella Ayscue took the corner and sent it directly to Kayleigh Herr, who headed it into the net. There was nothing Maryland’s defense or Beardsley could have done.
MacBean forced Beardsley to make her first save of the match in the 57th minute, as the keeper kept the deficit at two goals.
The energy and momentum Maryland possessed in the first half flatlined in the second, and Penn State created more chances as a result. The Nittany Lions saw another chance when Raich took a bottom-left shot that Beardsley dove to stop.
“I think personally, I just wanted to play for the girls in front of me, and then just be kind of like a backbone,” Beardsley said. “Whatever happens, hopefully I can do something about it too.”
Minutes later, Maryland had a glorious chance on the break, but the action was whistled dead for a handball.
In the 70th minute, Penn State created a flurry of opportunities in front of the net. Kulpa registered two shots, Beardsley made a save, another shot was blocked and the final boot hit the crossbar before being cleared away by Kennedy Bell.
“Honestly, it’s just when it doesn’t end up in the back of the net. Like it’s a confidence booster, because it’s like, ‘Hey, I did my job and it actually worked,’” Beardsley said. “As a defensive unit, we did our job and it worked. And so it’s like, we can build off that adrenaline rush.”
Madison Krakower took Maryland’s first shot on goal in the 73rd minute, but it was saved by keeper Mackenzie Gress.
Then, Kulpa took a shot, which forced a Beardsley kick-save. The rebound popped back out to Elle Kershner, though, who buried it to give Penn State a three-goal lead.
Kulpa scored the fourth goal for Penn State in the 80th minute. Her first shot was saved by Beardsley, but the rebound returned to her foot and the subsequent shot was deflected in off a Maryland defender.
Penn State notched its fifth goal in the 90th minute, courtesy of Rebecca Cooke.
The Nittany Lions’ dominant second half carried it to victory. Despite shot totals (17-9) and shots on goal (11-1) favoring Penn State, Maryland held 51% of the game’s possession.
“The message from us is you have to find a way to reward ourselves for some of the positive moments and the positive things that we do,” Marchiano said. “That’s where our focus is going to be moving into tomorrow, into the next game.”
Three things to know
1. New energy. It was a different feeling at Ludwig Field for kick-off, as there was an evident change in the Terps’ energy with the coaching change. Maryland had longer huddles and speeches, and it didn’t appear as defeated as it has been lately.
“I think we just hope to kind of build off this energy we had tonight. I don’t think we’ve had that as a group since senior day,” Beardsley said.
2. Chippy match. Maryland and Penn State played a physical match Thursday night. There were multiple collisions, and many players went to the ground injured.
3. Second-half spiral. Maryland played well in the opening 45 minutes, but things got out of hand in the second half. Penn State held most of the possession and put four goals in the back of the net, tripling its shot totals from the first half.
“I think there was a part in that second half where the energy levels dropped off,” Marchiano said. “Whether that’s because of the demand of the game or what we’ve gone through … but as the game went on, it got to be really transitional, and that took a lot out of our legs.”