Sept. 8, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The No. 18 Maryland Terrapin women's soccer team takes its undefeated record on the road Wednesday afternoon at American. Opening kick for the Terps and the Eagles is slated for 4 p.m. at Reese Field.
Event Multimedia
• Fans will be watch the game live by logging on to www.aueagles.tv. There is a $5.95 fee to watch the match.
Ranked Terps
• Fresh off their 1-0 victory over then-No. 22 Santa Clara, the Terps entered the Soccer America Top 25 at No. 18 this week. For the Terps this is their first time being ranked among the top 25 since finishing the 2004 regular season with a No. 19 ranking. Last season, Maryland received votes in the top 25 poll after opening the season with a 5-0 win over George Mason, but never cracked the actual poll. The 5-0 Terrapins are off to their best start to a season since the 1996 team opened that year with a 14-0-1 records. The Terps are one of six ACC schools ranked in the Soccer America Top 25 and are one of just four teams in the ACC that remains undefeated.
• Maryland is also receiving votes in this week's NSCAA Top 25. The Terrapins are the third-highest team out of the top 25 with 50 points. Maryland is also fifth in the ultra-competitive Southeast Region, trailing five other ACC schools.
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. Sophomore
Ashley 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.
• Maryland faced its toughest test so far on Sept. 4 in traditional powerhouse Santa Clara, but a goal by sophomore Ashley Grove propelled the Terps to a 1-0 victory. Senior keeper Mary Casey made five stops to earn her third shutout of the season.
• With her goal against the Broncos sophomore
Ashley Grove tied fellow sophomore
Jasmyne Spencer for the team lead points and goals with seven and three, respectively. Freshman
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.The Maryland defense has been tremendous over its first five games. The Terps have allowed just 26 total shots so far, with only 13 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 0.60.
Scouting The Eagles
• American is 3-1-0 on the season so far, but has scored just five goals, while allowing three.
• The Eagles opened the 2009 season with a 2-0 loss at D.C. rival Georgetown on Aug. 22. From there American has won three straight home games, defeating Georgia Southern, 2-0 on Aug. 28, Bryant, 2-1 in overtime on Aug. 30, and Richmond, 1-0 on Sept. 2.
• Sophomore Mikaila Weaver is the lone Eagle with more than one goal, leading the team with two. Arianna Efstathiou has played every minute in goal for American and boasts a 0.75 GAA.
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.
