After taking the season opener on the road against Lehigh, Maryland women’s soccer heads home to face Stony Brook.
This year’s season opener at Ludwig Field is crucial for the Terps, as they aim to get within striking distance of last season’s win total (3). However, Maryland will face a tough challenge with the Seawolves, who also started the season strong with a win.
Sunday’s matinee will begin at 1 p.m. and stream on Big Ten Plus.
Stony Brook Seawolves (1-0-0, 0-0-0 CAA)
2023 record: 6-6-6, 4-4-4 CAA
After putting up both a .500 overall and conference record in 2023, Stony Brook got off to a strong start this season, defeating Colgate, 2-1, at home. The Seawolves struck in the fifth minute of their season opener, and then reclaimed the lead in the 47th minute when the score was knotted at one.
Stony Brook head coach Tobias Bischof saw success early on in his tenure with the program. When the school was in the America East Conference, he led the Seawolves to a conference tournament championship win and two NCAA tournament appearances in his first two seasons. But over the last four years, Stony Brook has struggled, failing to win more than seven games in a season.
Players to watch
Gabrielle Côté, junior forward, No. 21 — Côté scored a goal and notched an assist in Stony Brook’s first game of the season and has been a valuable player for the Seawolves over the past two seasons. In 2023, she started all 18 games, scoring four goals and tallying two assists. She also had 18 shots on goal in 2023.
Aneta Sováková, senior defender, No. 6 — Sováková is in her fourth season with Stony Brook after playing in the Czech Republic prior. In the Seawolves’ first game of the season, Sováková scored the game winning goal — her first career score. Sováková doesn’t take many shots, but is a stellar defender, as she started every game she played in 2023.
Luciana Setteducate, junior forward, No. 28 — Setteducate is the primary scorer for Stony Brook. Over the past two seasons, she’s posted a combined five goals and seven assists. In the first game of the season, Setteducate recorded an assist on the Côté goal.
Strength
Goals. Putting it simply, Stony Brook can score well. It potted two goals in the first game of the season and averaged 1.61 goals per game last season. That mark is much better than Maryland’s 0.50 goals per game average last season.
Weakness
Fouls. Fouls were a big issue in Stony Brook’s season opener. The Seawolves committed nine penalties against Colgate and earned two yellow cards. Last season, Stony Brook committed 156 fouls and received 14 yellow cards and a red card.
Three things to watch
1. Will Ludwig Field be an advantage in 2024? Maryland was 2-4-2 at home in 2023, which was much better than its 1-6-3 road record. After starting the season with a win on the road, the Terps will look for their first home victory of the season.
2. Will Liz Beardsley’s dominance continue? In 2023, one of Maryland’s bright spots was the play of Beardsley. During the first match of the season, Beardsley demonstrated that she’s still got it, shutting out Lehigh with seven saves. Beardsley will be key to any Maryland success in 2024.
3. Can the offense continue to score? Maryland scored two goals in the season opener at Lehigh, a positive sign for a team who scored nine goals total last year. Whether Maryland’s offense has truly improved has yet to be seen, though.
