First Win Brings In A New Era

Soaked from head to toe in gatorade, Meghan Ryan Nemzer sported a massive smile across her face. 

“It’s about time,” Nemzer said. “Monkey off our back.” 

Sure, she might have preferred if her players, led by Krista Varrichione and Sydney Urban, doused her in a water bath celebration instead of sticky gatorade that clung to her body in the brutal Maryland heat, but Nemzer summed it up perfectly. 

“Better to get poured by something than nothing.” 

For Nemzer and her team, their first win of the season and of the new era of Maryland women’s soccer on Sunday against George Mason was a momentous occasion that validated all their hard work. 

It was a victory almost nine months in the making.

Dec. 14, 2021

Just four days after Nemzer was hired, she made several strong proclamations at her introductory press conference—proclamations that spoke to the immense potential Nemzer saw in the program. 

“This is the best time to come,” Nemzer said that day. “Buy stock now because it's a good day to be here. Tomorrow is going to be a better day, and you're going to be part of something that is going to change the culture. For my local Maryland girls, be Maryland legends. Come home, change the program, change the culture. Instead of being part of something, build something special that you'll always come back to.”

Nemzer, a Maryland native, also emphasized the importance of making this program one where young girls from the area could feel a sense of belonging. 

“To all the girls, the youth players in the DMV, this is going to be your program,” Nemzer added. “I want you to have a Maryland t-shirt on because where I fell in love with the game was watching Shannon [Higgins-Cirovski] (wife of current men’s soccer coach and Maryland Athletics Hall of Famer Sasho Cirovski) leading the program back when the stands were full, and when we were having a winning record and just really having that pride in the program.”

From Day One, it was clear—Nemzer saw no limitations to what her program could become.

Aug. 18, 2022

After a full offseason and preseason, Nemzer and her team, featuring 20 newcomers, were ready to go on opening night when they battled Temple in Philadelphia. 

“I’m very excited to get started,” Nemzer said before the game. “I think we’ve been talking about this for a while and it’ll be good to actually kick everything off.”

Ever the players-coach, Nemzer preferred to keep the focus on the team, consistently conveying that, above all, she was most thrilled for the girls who would see their hard work come to fruition. 

Even so, Nemzer, who showed no first-game jitters herself, took the time to appreciate her head coaching debut. 

“I think it feels a tad bit different, but once I got here it’s just the same stuff I’ve been doing for 18 years plus,” she said prior to kickoff. “I’m just excited to get going, coaching is what I love.”

The match was a back-and-forth affair in the beginning until Temple struck first in the 63rd minute off a penalty corner. The Terps equalized three minutes later thanks to an Alina Stahl goal, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Nemzer and her team weren’t satisfied with the result, hoping to come out of Philadelphia with a win. However, they were proud of the fight and resilience they displayed—two concepts that have developed into the team’s calling card. 

“I talk about response a lot and I think that the team responded well,” Nemzer said.

“You can tell how resilient we are, we weren’t going to settle for being down for long,” Stahl added.

After the game, Stahl had rave reviews for her head coach. 

“(Nemzer’s) great,” Stahl said. “She’s one of the most inspiring coaches I’ve ever met. She wants all of us to succeed not only for her program, but for ourselves as well. She cares so much, it makes you want to perform for her and get her the results. It’s definitely upsetting that we didn't get the win tonight, but hopefully soon.”

And despite the disappointment over the tie, Nemzer remained steadfast in her appreciation for the opportunity she has as the Maryland women’s soccer coach. 

“The first one’s over, so now I kinda get to take a deep breath,” she said. “I feel very lucky and honored that I get to coach this program and I will continue to give everything I have. I’m excited to grow with this team.”

Sept. 1, 2022

Led by Nemzer, the Terps continued to work and to push themselves. 

After two more road games and two more 1-1 ties where they had to fight to come from behind and even the score, the Terps finally returned to campus for the first home game of the season, and the first game as Maryland’s coach at Ludwig Field for Nemzer. 

They would face their toughest challenge yet that Thursday evening as they hosted No. 17 Georgetown.

The Terps came out and executed a terrific gameplan, not letting Georgetown develop sustained offensive rhythm. The Hoyas eventually took a 1-0 lead but, again, the Terps continued to battle and Stahl played the hero in the 83rd minute, bringing the Terps to a 1-1 tie. 

"Our team motto this year is fight and I think that's what we did all night," Stahl said. "No matter what, even if it felt like they were coming at us, they had lots of set pieces and everything, we still were just keeping our head, keeping our gameplan and making sure we were doing what we had to do."

For Nemzer, earning a hard-fought and well-deserved tie against one of the top teams in the country was further proof that her team was continuing to grow and develop.

"I'm very, very happy that we showed that fight. We talk about the process, we talk about winning your individual battles so that the team can be successful, and I thought they did that. For me, I'm happy that we got that tie. To tie a talented Georgetown team, I think that should give us a lot of confidence as the season goes on."

Sept. 4, 2022

Three days later, the Terps had another home match—a Sunday afternoon battle against George Mason. 

Maryland was dominant from the start in that one, and beat the Patriots 3-0 for the first win of the Nemzer era.  

After the game, the girls doused Nemzer in a gatorade shower and then gathered for a giant group hug to celebrate the coach who so visibly means a great deal to all of them.

“I think it means the world,” midfielder Catherine DeRosa, more commonly known as Bootsie, said of the team’s celebration. “Meg has poured everything into this program since she got here and I think we’ve done the same with her, so there was obviously a lot of emotion with that today. We’re just so excited to get our first win under Meg.”

“We want to keep doing that,” added goalkeeper Madeline Smith, who recorded a career high in saves and her first shutout as a Terp in the same weekend.

Midfielder Sofi Vinas described Nemzer as an electric person, a sentiment DeRosa reciprocated. 

“She’s so passionate and has so much heart, I think she’s really been trying to pull that out of us and I think she pulled it out of us today. And now we’re just scratching the surface of what we can really do,” DeRosa said. 

Just as she has since the beginning, Nemzer preferred to keep the spotlight on the girls in her big moment. 

"This is where I want to be, this was my dream job,” Nemzer said. “I feel like to get the monkey off the back and to get the win going, more importantly it's a win for the team. There were a lot of firsts. There was a first shutout, there was (Poarch's) first goal back from injury, Sofi's first goal. It was a great day to celebrate for Maryland soccer."

Coming into Maryland with a reputation as a defensive coach, Nemzer took extra pride in the fact that her first win came in a shutout. But, more than that, Nemzer saw the win, and the entire weekend as a testimony of the continuous growth her team has shown the more they practice and play together. 

“We’ve been having better practices,” Nemzer said. “I don’t want to use this as an excuse, but every game we will continue to get better because the relationships are there. It’s 20 new people.”

Nemzer isn’t satisfied with the one win. She has larger aspirations and new heights to take the program in mind.

She did, however, want to make sure she celebrated this one with the girls—even covered in sticky gatorade. 

“Better to get poured by something than nothing,” Nemzer repeated.