Maryland women’s soccer gave up two second-half goals and suffered its first loss of the season, 2-0, against American Thursday.
After holding its own in the first half, Maryland (1-1-1) folded defensively and American (1-1-1) capitalized to win its first game of the year.
“Today just wasn’t our night.” Maryland head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer said. “But I’m looking forward to how we respond on Sunday.”
In the 59th minute, Brooke Steel finally broke the ice and scored the game’s first goal for American. A deflection brought the ball to Steel’s right foot, which made it tough for goalkeeper Liz Beardsley to locate it.
The goal commenced a momentum shift for American. Steel had second a chance for another goal in the 60th minute, but put it off the crossbar to keep the Maryland deficit at one.
“I think that they exploited us in a counter and so they put the ball in the back of the net.” Ryan Nemzer said.
But the one-score lead didn’t last long. American potted another in the 63rd minute, as Izzy Kadzban received a pass in the slot from Lailah Stewart and buried it with her left foot. The shot found the bottom right corner of the net, giving American some added insurance.
Unlike Sunday’s contest against Stony Brook, Thursday’s game started slow. Maryland earned a corner in the sixth minute and Beardsley made a routine save in the 10th minute. Besides a lone American shot and the Terps getting called for offsides three times, the first 20 minutes didn’t have a ton of action.
Maryland finally took its first shot on net in the 28th minute, but Ava Morales’ try was stopped by Addison Roemer. In the next few minutes, Maryland piled on two more chances.
Peyton Bernard saw an opportunity in the 30th minute but sailed the shot high. In the 35th minute, Morales got another chance near the net, but a slide tackle prevented a shot.
In the 42nd minute, Delaney DeMartino had Maryland’s best chance of the first half. On the break in front, she rocketed a shot and barely missed wide.
On the other end, Beardsley made her third save of the match on an Avery Klingensmith shot in the 43rd minute.
At the half, shots were tied at four apiece. Each team got one corner in the half — otherwise it was an uneventful first 45 minutes between the Terps and Eagles. Possession in the first half was even at 50% for both sides.
In the 50th minute, Maryland’s Kennedy Bell took a shot on the rush, but Roemer made a tight save with her legs. The Terps peppered another shot on net in the 51st minute, but it was routinely saved by Roemer again.
“So, we spoke about sort of switching a little bit of our shape, and I thought it was working really well the first 30 seconds, and we created a one on one with the goalkeeper, but we were unfortunate with the ball in the back of the net,” Ryan Nemzer said of the opportunity.
After the two American goals, Maryland entered desperation mode. However, aside from some offensive zone time and a missed shot by Madison Krakower, the Terps didn’t produce any substantial chances.
Meanwhile, the Eagles were more than content to play keep away and spoil Maryland’s unbeaten start to the season.
Three things to know
1. Second-half struggles. Following an even first half, Maryland quickly saw any hope of winning disappear. After American took the lead with the Steel goal, its defense fortified and kept Maryland out of the net.
2. Kadzban’s dominance. After being a standout for American in the first half, Kadzban broke through in the second half and scored the Eagles’ second goal of the night. She was a major factor in the victory.
3. Maryland goes scoreless. After scoring two goals in each of their first two matches, the Terps were held off scoreless on Thursday. Maryland attempted 10 shots in the match but only got four on net.
“I thought we created enough opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net,” Nemzer said. “We were unfortunate with not being able to do that.”
