COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland women's soccer team dominated the run of play, but had to settle for a 0-0 tie with Michigan State Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field.
The tie keeps the Terrapins overall record even at 3-3-2 and in conference play at 1-1-1. The Spartans are now 6-3-1 on the season and 0-3-1 in the Big Ten.
Maryland had its first chance of the game in the 17th minute off of a corner kick sent in by junior Riley Barger. Junior Sarah Molina got on the end of it with a header, but it was deflected by a Spartan defender. The rebound bounced out to sophomore Lauren Berman, who tried from outside the 18-yard box, but her effort went left of frame.
Senior Shade Pratt created an opportunity in the 27th minute off of a Michigan State turnover, but her cross from the right side to the back post had too much pace for senior Alex Doody to catch up to it.
Too much pace also proved to be the end of the final Terps' chance of the first half. Redshirt sophomore Gabby Galanti saw senior Cory Ryan making a run through the Spartans back line, but Galanti's pass was too far in front for the free-running Ryan to catch up to.
The Terrapins completely dominated the second half of play outshooting Michigan State 11-3, but Spartan keeper Courtney Clem made three of her six saves in the second 45 minutes of play to prevent Maryland from taking a lead.
The first good opportunity for the Terps came in the 60th minuter when Berman sent a service off of a short corner from Barger into the penalty area. Once again it was Molina carving out some space to get on the end of it for a header, but Clem adjusted enough to step in front to make the save.
In the 66th minute, sophomore Hope Gouterman sent a bending ball from just outside the left corner of the box toward the upper right 90, but the ball bent a bit too much and sailed just wide.
A cheeky back-heel pass from Galanti to Ryan near the left side end line created enough space for Ryan to send a cross toward the right corner for junior Sarah Fichtner, but her effort from 18 was stopped by Clem in the 72nd minute.
Right at the start of the first overtime Berman sent a blistering ball toward the near post from the right side, but Clem was well positioned to make the stop.
Even when Maryland didn't have numbers on its side the Terps still managed to create dangerous opportunities. On a counter-attack in the 93rd minute, Ryan and Pratt were on a 2v7 break. Despite the odds, Ryan was able to slip through three defenders toward the right corner of the 18, but her momentum carried over into her shot and it sailed right of its mark.
The best scoring opportunity of the match came in the 97th minute. Pratt drove hard down the right side and got off a good cross to the back post. This time the pace was right and Fichtner was right there for a header. Unfortunately, Clem was able to dive across the face of the goal and make a one-handed stop and then control the bouncing ball before it could trickle over the goal line.
Doody had Maryland's only shot on goal in the second overtime, but Clem made her sixth stop to preserve the tie.
Michigan State had one last chance in the final minute when Jamie Cheslik's shot hit the arm of a Maryland defender outside of the 18 and the Spartans were awarded a free kick just left of center. Kristen Evans stepped up to take the free kick, but couldn't negotiate the Terrapins wall and sent her shot well over the crossbar.
“We deserved better than a tie today, but there are a lot of positives coming from today,” said Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan. “We defended well, we've been defending well over the course of the last four games. Our possession is getting better, we had one poor half against Michigan, but outside of that our possession has been very good. We asked the kids to do a lot of things in training, make some adjustments. We worked on our back-to-pressure issues, our combination play and we showed a lot of video and we challenged them. I am really proud of them because they came out today and did everything that we asked. In turn, we created what we wanted to create, but we just weren't good in front of goal. I think that's the next piece for us, so we just have to spend a little more time in front of goal, building that confidence and composure and start getting rewarded for some of the play that we have here.”
The 0-0 tie is the first for the Terrapins since August 19, 2012 at Villanova. The last time Maryland played to a scoreless draw at Ludwig Field was October 8, 2011 vs. No. 11 Wake Forest.
Maryland hits the road for the first time in Big Ten play this coming week with a pair of road matches at Iowa and at Nebraska. The Terps play at Iowa in a 3:30 p.m. match on Thursday, Sept. 25 before heading to Lincoln, Neb., to play the Cornhuskers on Sunday, Sept. 28 in a 2 p.m. match.
