ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Junior Riley Barger scored for the University of Maryland women's soccer team, but the Terps couldn't finish another opportunity and settled for a 1-1 tie vs. Navy on Monday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
The Terrapins finish their non-conference schedule with a 2-2-1 mark, while the Midshipmen are now 2-2-2 on the year.
“While I'm disappointed with the result tonight, I'm very proud of our group and their performance,” said Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan. “Everything we prepared for, discussed in our game plan, we did a great job. We just didn't put away our opportunities. I felt like we deserved another two or three goals in the first half. By not putting away those opportunities we ended up making more of a game of it than we should have.
“Give Navy credit, it was a good goal and a good finish. I'm really happy with the way our kids responded right before the half to tie it up.”
Maryland had the first chance of the game in the 9th minute when a corner kick led to junior Aubrey Baker sending a ball to the far corner of the six. Junior Maisie McCune got on the end of it with a header, but her effort rattled off of the top right corner of the frame.
The Terps had another golden opportunity in the 12th minute. A Navy free kick led to a Maryland counter-attack that found junior Alex Doody in a 1v1 with Midshipmen keeper Dayton Weatherby. Doody tried to chip the ball over Weatherby, but the goalkeeper took a risk, coming off of her line and smothered the ball off of Doody's foot.
Weatherby couldn't control the rebound and senior Shade Pratt raced across the box to the loose ball. She appeared to have an open net to shoot at, but Navy defender Jade Seabrook stepped in at the last second and knocked the ball away before it could get across the line.
Baker played the ball down the left side in the 19th minute, but her low drive to the box was deflected by a Midshipmen defender. The ball took a fortuitous bounce for the Terps as it went right to McCune on the left wing, but her drive from just outside the 18 sailed wide right of its mark.
Pratt showed the quality of her pace in the 22nd minute, racing past a pair of Navy defenders and getting into the Navy 18. Weatherby again rose to the challenge, blocking Pratt's shot just as it left her boot.
In the 29th minute, Maryland had three rapid-fire shots at the Navy net by Baker, Doody and McCune, but all three were blocked by Midshipmen defenders to keep the game scoreless.
Maryland dominated the play from the beginning of the match, but the Midshipmen capitalized on its first real chance of the game in the 34th minute, as Rachel Hunter took a cross from Julie Schumacher near the top of the 18 and chipped it into the upper right 90 just past the leaping effort of keeper Rachelle Beanlands.
Pratt continued to pester the Navy defense in the 40th minute, but once again Weatherby proved her foil. The rebound bounced right to sophomore Lauren Berman, but her header went left of the goal.
Maryland's dogged pressure finally broke through in the 43rd minute. Pratt earned a corner kick for the Terps and Berman put it into play from the right side. The ball was headed out by Navy's Lexi Ricketts and eventually settled near the top of the box with Barger, who ripped a shot from 20 yards into the left side of the goal to knot the match at one goal apiece.
The Terps closed out the first half, which saw them with a 15-4 shot advantage over the Midshipnmen, with Berman sending a brilliant shot from 25 yards in the 44th minute that Weatherby just got a piece of to tip it over the crossbar.
Navy was much more deliberate in the second half and slowed the game down with its measured pace of play and relentless substitutions that shortened the match.
Maryland's first good opportunity of the second half came in the 75th minute as Pratt played the ball down the right side for sophomore Natasha Ntone-Kouo. She showed some good skill and speed in getting around a defender and getting off a good cross to the top of the 18. Berman got on the end of the cross, but her volley went just over the crossbar.
Barger sent a corner kick from the left side into the box where it was bounced back out by the Navy defense. The ball drifted out to Berman, who took a chance from 20 yards out that just skimmed the top of the crossbar in the 80th minute.
A Maryland foul in the 83rd minute gave Navy a free kick from 28 yards out in the center of the field. Hunter looked to get her second goal of the game with a good shot over the Terrapins' wall, but Beanlands was well-positioned for the clean save.
In the 85th minute Maryland had another opportunity as junior Shannon Collins sent a long cross from the far left side to the right top corner of the Navy 18. Junior Amanda Gerlitz headed the ball back toward the center of the box where Doody made an athletic attempt at a header that just scraped the outside of the right post.
The Terps had the first good chance of overtime as Collins once again played a long ball. This time it was perfectly weighted and allowed Pratt to run onto it, but Pratt's effort went wide right in the 93rd minute.
A shot by junior Sarah Fichtner earned a corner kick for the Terps in the 96th minute. Barger sent the ball in from the left corner and it bounced back to Baker, but her shot was blocked. The loose ball went right to Doody, who got a shot through a crowd, but Weatherby was there to make the save.
As time expired, Pratt made one last effort and got off a good shot from 20 yards, but Weatherby was there for the save.
Beanlands made three saves in the match, while Weatherby was credited with 10.
Maryland heads back home for the historic first-ever Big Ten conference game at Ludwig Field on Friday, Sept. 12. The Terrapins will host Rutgers in a 7 p.m. start.
