The No. 17 University of Maryland women's soccer team earned a 3-1 win over Loyola in the Terps' lone preseason exhibition Friday night at Ludwig Field.
“We played our entire team tonight and I was pleased with the performance of a lot of individuals,” said Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan. “Although she didn't score, I thought Hayley Brock brought a lot of energy and was pretty dangerous.”
The first half saw the Terps dominate play, outshooting the Greyhounds 14-2, but Maryland could not get a shot past Loyola keeper Didi Haracic, who had five saves in the first half of play, until the 31st minute. Sophomore Riley Barger slipped a pass through the Loyola defense and sophomore Ashley Spivey finished easily to give Maryland a 1-0 lead.
Maryland continued to control the match in the second half with a 14-4 shot advantage, but it was the Greyhounds who got on the board in the 57th minute to tie the game at 1-1. A shot by Katelyn McFadden was blocked just inside of the 18, but the rebound bounced right to Caroline Miller, who got off a shot in traffic that found the net.
The Terps regained the lead in the 72nd minute when senior Hayley Brock earned a corner kick. Sophomore Shannon Collins sent a good ball to the back side of the six and sophomore Maisie McCune got on the end of it and headed it into the upper left corner.
Maryland's lead grew to 3-1 five minutes later when freshman Natasha Ntone-Kouo took the ball down the right side and crossed it into the six where junior Alex Doody one-timed it into the Greyhound net.
The Terps had a couple of good opportunities a few minutes later, but Haracic, who finished with 12 saves, made point-blank stops on shots by junior Cory Ryan and Doody to keep Loyola in the match.
“Like in all exhibitions you want to learn more about your team and we took away a lot of lessons from tonight. We will watch the film and improve some things during training this week,” said Morgan.
Maryland opens its 2013 regular season on Friday, Aug. 23 then it hosts The Citadel at 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field.
