Midfielder Cassie Phillips drives past a Dukes defender during James Madison’s 1-0 overtime win over Maryland women’s soccer at Ludwig Field on Sept. 10, 2015.
The Terrapins women’s soccer team has attempted 13 shots per game this season, but it hasn’t translated to scoring at a high rate.
The Terps rank second to last in the Big Ten in goals, so this week in practice, coach Jonathan Morgan’s squad focused on finishing.
With Michigan (7-4, 2-1 Big Ten), which leads the conference in goals per game, visiting College Park on Thursday, the Terps could need to convert more chances than usual to keep up with the Wolverines.
“I put it to our forwards this week: ‘You guys have to start carrying some more weight here and start putting these opportunities away,’” Morgan said. “I like the fact that we’re starting to break teams down. Now it’s about finishing those chances.”
The Terps (5-6, 0-3) began to show improvement in the second half of their contest Sunday at Illinois. At the break, Morgan told his team to attack the goal quickly instead of setting up long possessions.
It resulted in the Terps scoring their lone goal and attempting 10 additional shots in the eventual 2-1 double-overtime loss. Midfielder Cassie Phillips said the Terps plan to carry that strategy into their match Thursday.
“We just need to be getting more shots off,” Phillips said. “That’s always been a problem of ours. We’re definitely going to put everything in [the game] because we want the results.”
In one shooting drill, defender Kayla Shea said the coaches kept track of who was finding the back of the net, which put pressure on each player to perform. Because the stakes were high, Shea said, the Terps played aggressive and at game speed.
“If you’re the one in practice making all the shots,” Shea said. “You’re going to be the one in the game making all the shots.”
While watching film this week, Phillips noticed that Michigan’s unusual five-defender formation leaves more room between the midfield and backline, something the Terps haven’t seen this year. Phillips said the Terps midfield will try to get in front of Michigan’s to have more players in the attacking third.
Though the Terps have scored just once in their past three contests, they’ve had success at home, where they’ve outscored opponents 9-4.
Shea said playing in a familiar atmosphere and having fans support her team motivates them to win. Plus, the Terps will have national TV coverage with the Big Ten Network broadcasting both games this weekend.
“We can’t drop any more at home,” Shea said. “Our big slogan is ‘Protect this house.’”
The Terps are 4-3 at Ludwig Field this year but fell to Rutgers in their lone conference match at home. And despite going winless in Big Ten play so far this year, Morgan said he’s been encouraged with his team’s ball movement in conference games.
Still, Morgan and his squad know the team’s shots don’t mean anything when the ball doesn’t find the back of the net.
“There’s been times we’ve come out of games and said we played really well but didn’t create the [scoring] chances,” Shea said. “We’re taking steps forward, and we just have to put them away. We’re going to want to put on a good show.”
