No. 19 Women's Soccer Team Travels To Meet No. 3 Penn State
10/26/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2004
College Park, Md. -
The Game
• After wrapping up conference play, the No. 19 Maryland women's soccer team wraps up its regular-season schedule by visiting the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions for a 5:00 p.m. game on Wednesday, October 27 at Jeffrey Field.
ACC Tournament Pairing Announced
• Maryland will host NC State in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 3:00 p.m. The game will follow the Maryland men's soccer game with Clemson, which has been moved to Noon.
Terps Ranked For First Time In 2004
• For the first time this season the Terps are ranked in the NSCAA/adidas coaches' poll. After beating No. 10 Duke 1-0, Maryland checks into the Top 25 at No. 19. The Terps are also ranked in the Soccer America (20) and Soccer Times (24) national polls.
A Look Back At Last Week
• After coming so close against other top ACC schools, Maryland finally put one in the win column with a 1-0 win over No. 10 Duke on Saturday, Oct. 23 at Ludwig Field. The games was scoreless through regulation, but each team had its chances to score, both falling victim to the crossbar on multiple occasions. The Terps finally broke through in the 97th minute when junior Mallory Mahar sent a pss from near midfield to Kimmy Francis just outside of the 18-yard box. Francis eluded a pair of Blue Devil defenders and fired a shot toward the Duke goal. Blue Devil goalkeeper Allison Lipsher got a piece of Francis' shot, but could not hold on and the ball trickled into the net giving the Terps the 1-0 win. The victory was the second over a Top 10 this season, the first time Maryland has accomplished that since 1999.
• Kimmy Francis scored two goals, including Maryland's first penalty kick on the season, to lead the Terps to a 3-1 victory at Navy on Tuesday evening. The Terrapins remain unbeaten in non-conference play for 2004 and in the process handed the Mids their first home loss of the season. Francis got the Terps on the board in the 38th minute on a back-heel flick with her right foot to redirect a Simone Dekker pass into the goal. Stevie Dunning was also creditied with an assist on the goal. After Navy tied the game in the 62nd minute, Mallory Mahar put the Terps back on top with a hard shot into the upper right corner of the net for her team-leading seventh goal of the year. Francis added the insurance goal on the penalty kick in the 78th minute. Midshipmen defender Lindsay Adlam was called for a hand ball in the 18-yard box to draw the penalty.
Scouting The Nittany Lions
• The Nittany Lions are 13-1-1 on the season and clinced the Big 10 regular season title with a 9-0-0 conference mark. At home Penn State is a perfect 5-0-0 and have allowed only one goal at Jeffrey Field this season.
• Penn State is ranked first in the nation in shutout percentage (0.73) and second in the nation in goals against average (0.321). As a team the Nittany Lions are also ranked 35th nationally in scoring offense (2.4). Individually, Tiffany Weimer is second and third in the nation in points per game (2.3) and goals per game (1.2), respectively. Weimer has racked up 18 goals on the season, more than three times as many as the next PSU player (Amanda Lentz with 5 goals). A speedy Nittany Lions defense has allowed goalkeeper Erin McLeod to be ranked second in the nation in GAA (0.228).
The UM-PSU Series
• The Nittany Lions hold a slim 5-3 edge in the all-time series with the Terrapins, but have won the last three in the series, including knocking Maryland out of the 2002 NCAA tournament with a 2-1 win.
• The Terps and Penn State have played in State College on three prior occasions with the Nittany Lions winning all three by a combined 7-2 margin.
Two or Less
• Opponents of the Terrapins have found goals few and far between so far this season. In fact, the Terps defense has been so stingy that no opponent has scored more than two goals in a game. The breakdown for goals scored on Maryland this season is - 0 Goals: 4; 1 Goal: 5; 2 Goals: 5.
• During their last seven games the Terps (4-1-2 in those four) have allowed only five goals; one each to NC State, No. 14 Florida State and Navy, and two at Wake Forest.
• Dating back to the 2003 season, Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score more than two goals in 24 straight games. The last time the Terps allowed an opponent to score more than twice was October 5, 2003 against No. 1 North Carolina at Ludwig Field. The Tar Heels posted a 4-0 shutout. The last time a non-ACC opponent scored 3 or more goals in a game was Penn State, a 3-0 win, in College Park on Sept. 7, 2003.
Francis And Mahar Moving Up The Charts
• With her two goal, four point effort at Navy, junior Kimmy Francis is all alone in seventh spot on Maryland's all-time points chart with 56. Her six goals on the season have Francis in eighth on the career goals chart with 19.
• Not just a goal scorer, Francis is also among the all-time leaders in assists. Her four assists on the season leads the team and has tied her for fifth on the career charts with 18. The next closest current Terp is junior Simone Dekker with eight career assists.
• Also charging up the all-time charts is junior Mallory Mahar. With seven goals on the season, Mahar is now tied for 11th on the all-time list with 16. Mahar is also moving up the career points list. She is tied with Francis for the team lead with 16 points, a career high for Mahar, and has 38 for her career, just six points away from 10th place.
