The Terrapin women’s soccer team will make its farthest trip of the season as it goes on the road to face Dartmouth today, but 500 miles away from College Park, the Terps hope they didn’t leave their scoring at Ludwig Field.
That’s why coach Brian Pensky emphasized the importance of his starting forwards tonight: Sarah Sample, Kelly Rozumalski and Melissa Hornfeck – a group that totaled four goals on eight shots the last time the Terps took the field.
“We’re going to need our starting front three to have big games,” Pensky said. “Hornfeck has a cleverness to her that you can’t teach and you can’t coach. She’s got to know that she’s good enough to try stuff on the field at the right times.”
Like the Terps, Dartmouth doesn’t have a go-to scorer, but instead rely on a team effort. They have yet to put it all together, however, as they fell to No. 10-ranked Auburn and Vanderbilt in their opening tournament.
Although Dartmouth is a team the Terps seldom play, Pensky is confident that he received quality scouting reports from Dartmouth’s games so he can successfully counter-scheme against its 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 attacks.
“They are bigger, stronger, and very well organized,” Pensky said of the Big Green. “They are a good possession team, and very dangerous on pieces.”
The Terps fared well on the road in their season opening tournament at Penn State, splitting games against two top-ranked teams, but this will be the team’s first official away game, as the last two away from Ludwig were at neutral sites.
“Dartmouth is a great team, and had a preseason rank of 22 in the country,” Pensky said. “They were down at Auburn over the weekend and lost two tough games in overtime.”
And if anyone should know how dangerous teams can be after a disappointing game, it’s the Terps, as they showed last weekend by thumping UMBC following their tie against Towson.
Terps at Dartmouth
Where: Chase Field
When: Today, 4 p.m.
Contact reporter Mark Selig at mseligdbk@gmail.com.
