Bell's First Career Score Leads Terps In 2024 Season Opener Shutout At Lehigh, 2-0

Thursday, August 15

Bethlehem, PA

6 PM

Maryland

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Lehigh

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Maryland	1	1	2
Lehigh	0	0	0

Bell's First Career Score Leads Terps In 2024 Season Opener Shutout At Lehigh, 2-0

8/15/2024 7:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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BETHLEHEM, PA – Maryland women's soccer posted a shutout against Lehigh and came away with a 2-0 victory in its 2024 season opener at Ulrich Sports Complex on Aug. 15.

Sophomore Kennedy Bell scored Maryland's first goal of the season on a feed from junior Ava Morales in the 24th minute of action. The goal was the first of Bell's career, and the assist was the first of Morales' career.

24'| Kennedy Bell bags the first goal of the 2024 season

Terps 1
Lehigh 0 pic.twitter.com/lvrKr9AsNH
— Maryland W. Soccer (@TerpsWSoccer) August 15, 2024

Junior Delaney DeMartino netted the Terps' other goal in the 64th minute. Freshman Ellie Egeland was awarded the assist with a centering pass, setting up the easy score in front of the net. The assist was the first of her career.

65'| DeMar doubles our lead!!

Terps 2
Lehigh 0#GRITT pic.twitter.com/6IPpfyPCIu
— Maryland W. Soccer (@TerpsWSoccer) August 15, 2024

Senior goalkeeper Liz Beardsley made several athletic, diving stops. She finished her outing with seven saves and picked up her seventh career shutout as a Terp.

The shutout was Maryland's 22nd in a season opener, three of which occurred in the last four seasons.

Meghan Ryan Nemzer's Take
"I was really happy. We spoke about coming in here and being able to compete and be able to execute, and I thought we did that at moments. I was really proud that we had a lot of firsts as well tonight. We had some freshmen that came up and did some really good things. As a team performance, we spoke about mentality and competing, and overall, was really happy with it."

Kennedy Bell On Her First Career Goal
"It was a really good moment, just because the past two weeks [I've been] trying to transition from outside back to winger. It's not like it's a completely different position, but just mentally changing to be more cutthroat. Getting that goal definitely made the transition a lot easier and felt like it was worth it."

Breaking Down The Action

87'| Liz Beardsley is a brick wall in front of goal

Terps 2
Lehigh 0 pic.twitter.com/tsgxeRwFkh
— Maryland W. Soccer (@TerpsWSoccer) August 16, 2024

Maryland received either team's first corner kick of the evening in the eighth minute but couldn't set up a clean feed.
Liz Beardsley made her first save of the evening in the 13th minute off a Lehigh corner kick, resulting in a header shot on goal.
Katie Coyle recorded Maryland's first shot on goal in the 18th minute, but Lehigh goalkeeper Maggie Ousouljoglou made a diving save.
Kennedy Bell scored the first goal of her Maryland career after an excellent feed from Ava Morales in the 24th minute.
Lehigh drew a free kick off a yellow card on Coyle in the 53rd minute, resulting in a shot opportunity that was blocked in the box.
Delaney DeMartino tallied her first goal in her Terrapin career, sending the ball below the low right side past the goalkeeper in the 64th minute.
Beardsley made an impressive stop in the 86th minute to hold onto Maryland's shutout.

Season Opener Success

The Terps are unbeaten in their last eight season openers.
Maryland is 21-4-5 in its season openers since 1995.
Maryland has 22 shutouts in season-opener games, registering three in the last four years.

Newcomers Making A Mark

Seven players made their Maryland debut, including two transfers and five freshmen.
Transfers Delaney DeMartino and Brooke Tracey made their Maryland debut. Both student-athletes transferred from the Patriot League.
Freshmen Emily Lenhard, Taryn Raibon, Ellie Egeland, Kate Hawley and Ella Bulava made their collegiate debut.

Numbers To Know

1: Kennedy Bell scored her first career goal.
1: Delaney DeMartino netted her first career goal as a Terp.
1: Ava Morales and Ellie Egeland recorded their first career assist.
2: Transfers DeMartino and Brooke Tracey debuted in a Maryland uniform.
3: Maryland posted a shutout in three of its last four season openers.
5: Five freshmen made their collegiate debut for the Terps.
7: Liz Beardsley registered her seventh shutout with Maryland.
8: The Terps are unbeaten in their last eight season openers.
22: The shutout was Maryland's 22nd in a season opener.

Up Next

The Terps return to College Park for their home season opener at Ludwig Field on Aug. 18, when they play Stony Brook. The game starts at 1 p.m. and will air on Big Ten Plus.