The No. 12 Terrapin women’s soccer team continued its first-half woes last night, falling to No. 11 Wake Forest at Ludwig Field.
The Terps played well in a fast-paced first half, but Wake Forest struck early when forward Jill Hutchinson chipped a shot in for a goal just 2:45 into the game, setting the tone in the Demon Deacons’ 3-1 victory.
The Terps (12-3-2, 4-3-2 ACC) forced Wake Forest goalkeeper Amanda Barasha to make four saves in the half but were unable to convert on any of their opportunities.
The best opportunity of the first half for the Terps came in the 32nd minute, when forward Jasmyne Spencer broke past her defender. Accompanied by forward Danielle Hubka, Spencer attacked the net on a 2-on-1. The Demon Deacon defender left Spencer, the Terps’ leading scorer with nine goals, with an open shot. She chose to make the difficult pass to Hubka, who had trouble handling it and put a shot on goal that was saved as the Terps blew a golden opportunity.
“I think we definitely need to focus on composure on breakaways,” Spencer said. “We had three or four chances in the first half that should have been put away.”
Terp coach Brian Pensky saw the turning point of the game come with Wake Forest leading 1-0 in the 45th minute. The Demon Deacons (13-3-2, 5-2-2) earned a set piece at midfield in Terp territory. Forward Kaley Fountain sent the ball into the box, where defender Caitlin Farrell flicked a header into the goal to give the visitors a 2-0 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
“To go into halftime down 2-0, we obviously know what we need to do,” Pensky said. “I’m confident in our group’s ability to score goals, and I felt like two were going to come, but with that second goal the hill just got steeper.”
The Terps looked to be mounting a comeback late in the second half when midfielder Olivia Wagner feathered a pass from midfield to forward Ashley Grove, who beat a charging Barasha to cut the lead to one.
Pensky started pushing players forward, and the Terps had an opportunity in the box that was turned away by Wake Forest defenders with just less than 10 minutes remaining. Fountain put the game out of reach for the Terps shortly afterward, taking a cross and putting it past Terp goal goalkeeper Mary Casey.
Fountain starred for the Demon Deacons, totaling a goal and two assists to tie Hutchinson for the team lead in points.
The Terps had to make do without starters Skyy Anderson and Lydia Hastings, as Anderson was out with a hamstring injury and Hastings was sick. Pensky noticed their absence influenced the team’s lack of rhythm on the field.
“Any time that there are changes, there’s an adjustment,” Pensky said. “We had played with the same starting line-up for six consecutive games, and we were unbeaten in those six games. We had to make a change, but I don’t see that as the only reason we lost tonight.”
The Terps look to bounce back Sunday, as they wrap up the regular season at home against ACC foe No. 6 North Carolina. Casey hopes the team takes last night’s loss as a lesson.
“We can’t get down. We can’t beat ourselves up. We’ve just got to learn from it and be better on Sunday,” Casey said. “And we will.”
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