Sept. 3, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The undefeated Maryland Terrapin women's soccer team will face its toughest test to day Friday night when it hosts No. 22 Santa Clara. Opening kick for the Terps and the Broncos is slated for 5 p.m. at Ludwig Field.

The Maryland-Santa Clara game is the opening contest of a women's-men's doubleheader. The defending national champion No. 1/8 Maryland men's soccer team opens its 2009 campaign with a highly-anticipated battle against No. 9/19 UCLA. That game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Tickets and Game Promotions
• Click here for ticket information for all 2009 Maryland women's soccer home games.

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Scouting The Terps
• For the first time since 2001 the Terps have rattled off four straight wins. The Terps' 4-0 record is its best to begin a season since 1996. That year Maryland went 14-0-1 in its first 15 games.

• Maryland opened its 2009 season with a two-game road trip to New York for games at Army and Fordham. In the season opener at Army, the Terrapins dominated the Black Knights en route to a 3-0 shutout victory. After a scoreless first half, sophomore Ashley Grove got the Terps on the board with the team's first goal of the year off an assist by senior Megan Watson. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Jasmyne Spencer tallied her first collegiate goal. Senior goalkeeper Mary Casey started the play with a good punt, which was then flicked on by junior Caitlin McDowell. The third goal came was an unassisted blast by freshman Caitlin Mooney.

• After the Army win, Maryland moved to the Bronx to challenge the Fordham Rams. This time the Terps got on the board midway through the first half when freshman Olivia Wagner played the ball through to Spencer, who beat her defender and finished from 20 yards out with a low shot. Fordham tied the game at 1-1 in the 53rd minute, but it took Maryland less than 30 seconds to score the go-ahead goal. Once again it was Spencer scoring the goal, with the assist going to Grove, to give Maryland the 2-1 victory.

• The Terps continued their winning ways in their home opener on Friday, August 28 against Seton Hall. Freshmen Olivia Wagner and Caitlin Mooney scored goals for Maryland, leading the Terrapins to a 2-0 victory over the Pirates. Wagner scored the first goal on a 25-yard blast that was too much for the Seton Hall keeper to handle in the 51st minute. Mooney added the insurance goal on a quick turn-and-shoot effort in the 81st minute.

• The undefeated streak was in jeopardy for a half in the Terps' game against Loyola. The Greyhounds took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but that didn't stand up for long. Sophomore Sade Ayinde, who was inserted into the line-up at the beginning of the second half, scored in the 51st minute to knot the score at 1-1. Less than a minute later freshman Danielle Hubka gave Maryland the lead with a 30-yard shot into the upper right 90. After the Greyhounds tied the match in the next minute, the Terps regained the lead in the 53rd minute on another Ayinde goal. Ayinde was on the giving end of Terps' fourth goal,playing a give-and-go with freshman Caitlin Mooney, who finished from 15 yards into the lower left corner. SophomoreAshley Grove finished off the scoring with a 40-yard rip from the far left side of the field, giving the Terps a 5-2 victory.

• Sophomore Jasmyne Spencer continues to lead the team in points and goals with seven and three, respectively. But, Caitlin Mooney is second with three goals and six points, while Sade Ayinde has five points on her two-goal, one-assist effort against Loyola. Ashley Grove also has five points on two goals and an assist. The Maryland defense has been tremendous over its first four games. The Terps have allowed just 18 total shots so far, with only eight of those being on goal. Senior All-ACC goalkeeper Mary Casey has played every minute for Maryland so far and has a goals-against average of 0.75.

Scouting The Broncos
• Santa Clara enters Friday's game ranked No. 22 in the nation in the latest NSCAA National Rankings with a 2-1 record. This is the Broncos' first trip to the East Coast since they played at Penn State in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.

• The Broncos opened the season with a 4-0 victory at San Jose State on Aug. 21. Santa Clara returned home on Aug. 23 and took a 2-0 decision over UC Santa Barbara. The Broncos then went on the road again, but this time were upset by Utah, 1-0, on Aug. 28.

• Offensively, Santa Clara has had six different goal scorers with five different players recording assists. Three Broncos are tied for the team lead with three points. Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Bianca Henninger has allowed just one goal and boasts a 0.33 GAA.

At Ludwig Field
• Since its opening in 1995, Ludwig Field has proved to be a tremendous home-field advantage for the Terps women's soccer team. All-time Maryland is 92-44-15 (.659) at Ludwig Field.

• Through the seasons, the Terps have had a knack for shutting teams out at Ludwig Field. Maryland has won 64 of its 91 victories (70.0%) at Ludwig Field via shutout. Add in the nine 0-0 ties the Terps have had at Ludwig Field and it totals 73 times that Maryland has shutout its opponent in 151 games (48.3%).

Deeg's Diary
• Every week Colleen Deegan is filing "Deeg's Diary" on umterps.com. Log on each week for her latest insights on Terps women's soccer.

Media Information
• 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 with "Women's Soccer E-Mail" 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 log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.

• GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2009 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.