Aug. 25, 2005
College Park, Md. -
2005: The Beginning
• The Maryland Terrapin women's soccer team begins the 2005 season with a pair of home matches at Ludwig Field, beginning Friday, August 26, with a 7:00 p.m. game vs. Towson. The Terps then face Rhode Island for the first time ever on Sunday, August 28, at 2:00 p.m. The games will be brodcast on WMUC.
Scouting Towson
• The Tigers, 6-11-1 last season, have never defeated the Terps in five tries. Towson, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Leslie Wray (a 1995 graduate of Maryland), return eight starters, including second team All-CAA midfielder Kristin McHugh and CAA all-rookie team goalkeeper Brandi Daniels.
Scouting Rhode Island
• Head coach Zac Shaw brings his Rams to College Park for the first time on Sunday. Shaw took over the Ram program on August 3, replacing Lisa Cole. Shaw had been an assistant coach at Florida prior to taking the Rhode Island post. In 2004, Rhode Island compiled a 11-9-2 overall record (7-2-2 in the Atlantic 10). The Rams return 19 letterwinner from that squad.
• This will be the second game for the Rams in 2005. Rhode Island opens its 2005 season at No. 4 Virginia on Friday.
A Quick Look At The Preseason
• The Terps finished their two-game preseason schedule with a perfect 2-0 record.
• In its first preseason game, Maryland defeated Richmond, 1-0. Senior All-American Mallory Mahar scored the game's lone goal off an assist from senior Kimmy Francis.
• The Terps were impressive in their second preseason scrimmage, defeating No. 15 West Virginia, 3-1, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va. Mahar opened the scoring with a header off a corner kick from Francis. Mahar returned the favor by assisting Francis' goal to extend the Terrapin lead to 2-0. Sophomore Nataly Arias capped the Terrapin scoring with a 30-yard blast past the WVU keeper. Mahar and Francis each picked up another assist on Arias' goal. Deana Everrett scored for the Mountaineers to finish the scoring.
The Maryland-Towson Series
• This will be the third straight season the Terps and the Tigers have squared off against each other and the second consecutive season that the meeting will be the season opener for the two schools.
• Maryland is 5-0 all-time vs. Towson and has outscored the Tigers 20-2 in the series.
• Senior Kimmy Francis has enjoyed playing the Tigers during the past two seasons. In the 2003 contest, the Richboro, Pa., native scored twice, including the game winner, and added an assist in the 3-2 Terp victory. Last season, Francis assisted Mallory Mahar's game-winning goal in a 1-0 overtime thriller.
Terrapin/Tiger Connections
• Maryland and Towson have several former high school teammates suiting up for Friday's match-up.
• Centennial High School will have three alums suiting up for their first collegiate game: Amanda Paizs for Maryland and Rosie Goldberg and Lauren Palmer for Towson.
• Redshirt sophomore Ashly Kennedy and junior Sarah Sample will take the field with former St. Mary's teammate Alison Reinhart. Melissa Anderson is also a St. Mary's alum.
Terps Ranked In Preseason Poll
• Maryland is ranked 24th in the 2005 preseason Sooccer America Top 25 poll. The Terps also received votes in the NSCAA/adidas preseason coaches' poll.
• The Terrapins are ranked sixth in the Mid-Atlantic region in the preseason SoccerBuzz regional rankings.
Playing The Best
• Once again, the Terps boast one of the nation's most competitive schedules. The Terps take on eight teams in the preseason NSCAA poll including three of the top four and five of the top 10. The Terps are at No. 1 Notre Dame (Sept. 4), host No. 2 North Carolina (Oct. 2), at No. 4 Virginia (Oct. 23), host No. 8 Penn State (Sept. 16), vs. No. 9 UConn at the Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 2), at No. 12 Duke (Oct. 16), host No. 16 Boston College (Oct. 29), and host No. 21 Wake Forest (Sept. 30). Three other Maryland opponents also received votes: Clemson (Sept. 22), Villanova (Sept. 8) and Yale (Sept. 18).
• During five of the past six seasons, Maryland has at least one upset win or tie of a top-10 ranked team: a 4-3 win at No. 9 Duke on Sept. 19, 1999 and a 2-1 victory over Clemson on Oct. 17, 1999; a 3-1 win over No. 4 Penn State on Aug. 29, 2000; a 1-0 overtime over No. 8 Clemson on Oct. 13, 2001 and a 1-1 tie at No. 2 North Carolina last season, on Nov. 1, 2002. Most recently, the Terps stunned No. 3 UCLA 2-1 at the Virginia Soccer Classic on Sept. 12, 2004. A month and a half later, Maryland beat No. 10 Duke 1-0 in overtime at Ludwig Field. The Terps topped all of those victories with a 1-0 shutout of No. 2 seed Penn State in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The win also snapped the Nittany Lions 39-game home winning streak and was head coach Paula Wilkins' first ever loss at Jeffrey Field.
Media Information
• WMUC Radio: Maryland's student radio station WMUC (88.1 FM) will broadcast every home Maryland women's soccer game in 2005. A pregame show will air approximately 30 minutes prior to kickoff. WMUC's broadcasts can be heard live on the Internet at wmucsports.com and will be linked to umterps.com.
• Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland women's soccer news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email women's soccer contact Patrick Fischer at pfischer@umd.edu with the message "Women's Soccer Email" as the subject and you will receive every update.
• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please locate www.umterps.com on the Internet.
