Morales’ Late Penalty Kick Lifts Terps To 1-0 Win Over Binghamton In Non-Conference Finale

Sunday, September 10

Binghamton, NY

1 PM

Maryland

3-1-4, 0-0-0

Binghamton

1-4-2, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Maryland	0	1	1
Binghamton	0	0	0

Ava Morales Celebrates Goal to Give Terrapins Third-Straight Win

Morales’ Late Penalty Kick Lifts Terps To 1-0 Win Over Binghamton In Non-Conference Finale

9/10/2023 2:35:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BINGHAMTON, NY -- Defense was the name of the game for much of Sunday afternoon in New York until a handball gave the Terps a penalty kick opportunity that Ava Morales calmly punched through, giving Maryland (3-1-4) a 1-0 win over Binghamton (1-4-2) for the Terps' third win in a row. The win also marks the first time that the Terps have won three consecutive games since 2017.

Maryland has now gone four consecutive games without surrendering a goal.

The goal marked Morales' third straight game with a score. The Terps didn't allow a shot on goal until the 80th minute as Liz Beardsley came up with the save. Beardsley notched her fifth clean sheet of the young season. Maryland outshot Binghamton 12-6.

The Terps now enter Big Ten play, starting with Penn State on Friday, Sept. 6 at 6 pm.

Ava Mo steps to the spot and calmy puts it away to put the Terps on top#GRITT pic.twitter.com/ZozVHVeOtK
— Maryland W. Soccer (@TerpsWSoccer) September 10, 2023

Breaking Down the Action

The Terrapins got their first clear chance in the match in the 7th minute as a pass put Lisa McIntyre through on goal, but she couldn't direct her shot on goal.
Kat Parris went for goal in the 39th minute, but her shot from outside the area was blocked by the Binghamton defense.
It was a defensive battle in the first half, as both teams could only muster a combined five shots before halftime.
In the 48th minute, Maddie Krakower drove at goal and put a left-footed shot on goal that required a save from the goalkeeper.
Ava Morales found herself in space in the 58th minute, but her shot on goal was blocked by the goalkeeper and the Terps earned a corner.
Kelsey Smith got an opportunity from just outside the box in the 64th minute, but her curling effort just missed the top right corner of the goal.
Beardsley made her first save of the game in the 80th minute.
In the 82nd minute, a Binghamton handball gave the Terps the chance they needed to secure the win as Morales calmly put away the penalty kick.

Coach Nemzer's Take
"I just want to say how proud I was of the team, especially in the second half. I thought we made some adjustments after halftime. We always talk about how we bend but we don't break and in that first half there were moments for Binghamton and its took us some time to get our legs moving a little bit in the first half. I thought the team responded and we out shot them 10-3 in the second half. I thought we did a much better job in the second half and I'm glad we got the result because we did enough to get it in the game."

Catherine DeRosa on Getting the Win Heading into Big Ten Play
"I think going on the road it's always tough to get a win, but going into this we knew that we needed to get a win going into Big Ten play. I think everyone can speak that today wasn't the most beautiful game of soccer, but it doesn't matter because we got the result at the end of the day."

Numbers to Know

0: The Terps played a clean second half as they did not commit a single foul in the first 45 minutes.
3: Morales has now scored in three straight games.
4: The Terps have not allowed a goal in four games.
5: Liz Beardsley now has five clean sheets to her name this season.

Up Next

Maryland opens up Big Ten play next week as it takes on Penn State on Friday, Sept. 15 at 6 PM.
Maryland has met Penn State on 19 occasions, with the Terps having four wins over the Nittany Lions in the series.