Maryland women’s soccer held scoreless again, falls to Oregon, 2-0

The Terps lose their third consecutive Big Ten match at home.

Maryland women’s soccer had chances on Sunday, but were unable to snap its 700-day Big Ten scoreless drought.

The Terps conceded a goal in the first half and another in the second half, dropping their third-straight Big Ten match to Oregon, 2-0.

“I thought our response from Thursday was much better. Challenged them over the last three days to compete, to have a better mentality, and I thought that showed,” Maryland head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer said. “Still need to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net, but I thought that we were definitely more threatening and utilized what we spoke about over the last three days.”

Oregon started the match with a Lauren Kenny shot that sailed above the net in the first minute, as the Ducks came out of the gates firing. Kenny had a huge scoring chance in the third minute, as she was set up with a pass from Taylor Bryan right in front of the net and beat Liz Bearsely, but pushed the shot wide.

But, Maryland soon weathered the Oregon attack and keep play at midfield. It seemed early on that the Terps got possession, but were not able to push any substantial attack.

Oregon got back-to-back corners around the 17th minute, but were unable to muster a shot at Beardsley, as there wasn’t much substantial action after the early Oregon chance. Maryland did a good job preventing shots from getting to Bearsley.

Maryland got its first shot on goal of the match in the 24th minute, as the Terps set up a good chance for a Turnage-Morales shot that was impressively saved by Maddy Goldberg. Turnage-Morales received the shot off a cross from Delaney DeMartino.

“I mean, I thought the one that [Turnage-Morales] had in the first half, back post, I mean, she was wide open, and I thought we created those opportunities, and now she’s putting the ball in the back of the net,” Ryan Nemzer said. “But, yeah, we’re going to keep taking a look at it, seeing how we’re doing it, but I was happy.”

Oregon touched the back of the net first in the 26th minute, as Haley McWhirter rocketed a shot off her right foot to the top left of the net past Beardsley on an assist from Cameron Bourne. Bourne sent McWhirter a through ball toward the top left of the box, and she stutter-stepped around the Maryland defense before finding the back of the net.

In the 32nd minute, Maryland got another scoring chance. Peyton Bernard put a shot on net that was saved by Goldberg, then Madison Krakower took a shot that sailed above the net.

Kelsey Smith had a nice chance in front off a cross in the 44th minute, but her shot was blocked. The Terps threatened to score late in the half, but were unable to get a shot on net as the Terps headed into the break down one.

The Ducks outshot the Terps, 5-4, in the first half, but Maryland led in shots on goal, 2-1. Beardsley didn’t make a save in the half, as the Ducks scored on their only shot on net. Oregon also led corners, 3-2, in the first half. Maryland also held possession for 63% of the opening 45 minutes.

The Terps started the second half putting on the pressure, but didn’t get a shot. Bernard created a chance for Maryland in the 52nd minute, but her pass attempt in front was deflected for a throw in.

“I thought Peyton Bernard did exceptional up top for us today. I challenge her to hold the ball. I challenge her to get him behind.” Ryan Nemzer said. “She put in a really, really good shift, and others amongst, but I was really proud of how Peyton helped us today.”

In the 57th minute, Ava Morales received a yellow card for pulling Lucy Green’s uniform. Then, Kennedy Bell made a stellar defensive play on a tackle in front of the net.

Oregon doubled its lead in the 63rd minute, as Ariane Haysman Boaler scored off assists from McWhirter and Sydney Hennessey. Hennessey’s boot found McWhirter in the box, who headed it to Haysman Boaler for the goal. Beardsley dove for the ball and was caught out of position.

Beardsley made her first save of the match on a Livvy Moore shot at the top of the net.

Ava Mowery had a glorious chance in front of Goldberg in the 86th minute. However, her shot was blocked and deflected wide for a corner. The corner was then cleared by Oregon.

The Terps were outshot, 7-5, on Sunday. Shots on goal were 3-2 in favor Oregon and corners were 7-6 in favor of Maryland.

“Before the game, we spoke about outcomes, right. It’s all about results. And we spoke about there’s got to be a service shot or set piece,” Ryan Nemzer said. “I think we’re looking for the perfect goal right now.”

Maryland ultimately fell short once again.

“We want to win as bad as anybody right now, but we can’t get focused on the wins and losses. We need to get focused on the process, and that’s the message.” Ryan Nemzer said.

Three things to know

1. 700 days. Oct. 23rd, 2022 — the last time Maryland scored a Big Ten conference goal — was 700 days from Sunday. Sunday’s match was the 13th consecutive game the Terps were held scoreless in a Big Ten match, and the third time already this season.

“It’s a good thing to keep possession, but at the end of the day, you have to put it in the back of the net, and it’s something we haven’t done recently,” Turnage-Morales said.

2. Chances not converted. Unlike its first two Big Ten matches, Maryland had some legitimate chances to score on Sunday. Despite opportunities from Bernard, Smith and Krakower, the Terps couldn’t find the back of the net.

“Definitely think we created match chances in our past couple of games. We just need a little bit more bite in front of goal and just try to take our opportunities,” Turnage-Morales said. “It doesn’t need to be the perfect chance. We just need to get a shot off.”

3. Yellow cards in the second half. The Terps received three yellow cards in the second half, as Lauren Wrigley, Morales and Lenhard all received yellow cards for unsporting behavior.

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