COLUMBUS, OHIO – The University of Maryland women's soccer team rallied from a first-half deficit, but couldn't find a go-ahead goal despite some late quality opportunities and settled for a 1-1 tie at Ohio State Saturday evening at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The draw gives the Terrapins a 5-4-4 overall record for the year and a 3-2-3 mark in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are not 5-7-2 overall and 2-4-2 in conference play.
"Tonight was a wide open match with allot of attacking soccer, said Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan. "It was clear both teams left everything they had on the field. Although I'm disappointed in the result it's probably a fair result.
"I am proud of our team and how we responded from last weekend's performance. Our attack was like night and day. We put a ton of pressure on their backline and created multiple chances. Unfortunately, we couldn't capitalize on our opportunities.
"Moving forward I'm excited because I think we are so close to getting over the hump.
"We'll get back to work and prepare for next weekend."
Ohio State had the first chance of the night when a Maryland foul gave the Buckeyes a free kick from just a yard outside the penalty box near the right corner. Nikki Walts took the free kick, but couldn't control the spin and the ball twisted wide of the right post in the 10th minute.
Maryland's first opportunity of the night came less than a minute later when junior Amanda Gerlitz served the ball into the box, but Buckeye keeper Megan Geldernick came off of her line to punch it away. The ball went to senior Shade Pratt, but her shot was stopped by Geldernick.
The Terrapins had another opportunity in the 14th minute on a corner kick from the left corner. Junior Riley Barger's sent an excellent service into the box, where it was knocked back to senior Cory Ryan at the top of the box. Ryan tried to line up a shot, but her attempt was snuffed out by a pair of collapsing Ohio State defenders.
Not long after, Pratt made a terrific move down in the deep left corner to split a pair of Buckeye defenders. Knowing she didn't have an angle to shoot from, Pratt smartly played the ball toward the left center of the 18 where junior Shannon Collins was waiting. However, Collins' shot never reached the goal as it was blocked by a Buckeye defender.
Ohio State forward Nichelle Prince collected a long service from Ellyn Gruber in the 43rd minute and got past Maryland keeper Rachelle Beanlands, who came too far off of her line, and slipped a shot into an empty net to give OSU a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute.
The Terps answered back early in the second half with a nifty give-and-go from Pratt to sophomore Natasha Ntone-Kouo and back again. Pratt slotted a terrific ball for Ntone-Kouo down the right side and she played a sensational centering ball across the face of the goal. Pratt made a hard run trying to get on the end of it and looked as if she knocked it past Geldernick, but the offial scoring ruled the ball deflected off of an Ohio State defender for the own goal to tie the match at 1-1.
Maryland had another solid chance at the Ohio State goal in the 84th minute. Junior Aubrey Baker earned a throw-in on the left side. Collins threw the ball into some open space near the edge of the 18 for Pratt and she used a good turn to get free and launch a shot toward the net, but Geldernick made the stop and the OSU defense cleared out the rebound before the Terps could take advantage of the loose ball.
The Terrapins had one last chance in regulation to put things away, but the crossbar robbed Ryan of a goal in the 90th minute. Ryan eluded three Buckeye defenders to free up her right foot for a shot and that shot had Geldernick beaten, but it couldn't beat the frame and bounced down and away from the goal line.
Junior Sarah Molina set up Ryan with a good opportunity in the ninth minute of the first overtime period, but Ryan's shot from 20 yards just went wide of the left pipe.
Junior Sarah Fichtner had the first quality chance of the second overtime when she worked to get her left foot free in the 105th minute, but her shot from roughly 25 yards sailed just wide of the upper left 90.
As the clock wound down, the Terps had one final crack at the Buckeyes goal. Galanti played a beautiful centering pass across the Ohio State six, but Pratt wasn't able to connect and redirect it into an open goal. The ball did skip through to Fichtner, but as she brought the ball toward the right side of the six Geldernick slid across her face and plucked the ball away before she could get off a shot.
Beanlands finished the match with five saves, while Geldernick was credited with three stops.
Maryland heads back to College Park for its final home stand of the 2014 season. The Terrapins host Northwestern on Friday, Oct. 17 for a 7 p.m. start at Ludwig Field. “Senior Day” will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19 when the Terps face Illinois.
