Forward Alexis Anthony runs after the ball during the Terps 4-0 victory over William and Mary on August 28, 2014 at Ludwig Field.
After the Terrapins women’s soccer team slipped past N.C. State, 2-1, on Aug. 31, it began a seven-day layoff leading up to tonight’s game at Navy.
Coach Jonathan Morgan gave his team the day off Tuesday, but he and his players returned to Ludwig Field for a “medium-intensity session” of training Wednesday. And because he knew he could use the weekend to prepare for Navy, Morgan put his team through a fierce training session in the heat Thursday afternoon.
But while the Terps enter the match against Navy with fresh legs and a few additional days of training, they weren’t able to get fully healthy this weekend. Midfielder Lauren Berman and forward Gabby Galanti remain sidelined and forward Alex Anthony’s minutes are limited.
Moving forward, Morgan hopes these players will help the Terps in a facet of the game they’ve struggled with so far: finishing at the net.
“We’ve been talking about [scoring] just from a mentality standpoint,” Morgan said. “We’ve been encouraging [the players] to take risks and take chances and look at the goal more.”
Though Anthony has been limited to 40 minutes per game, she’s had success creating opportunities in the attacking third of the field and challenging the goalkeeper. She’s second on the team with seven shots, and she netted her first career goal against William & Mary earlier this season.
Galanti, who is training while recovering from a torn ACL she suffered early last season, has not yet seen the field, but she’s shown she can beat opposing goalkeepers during her time in College Park. After finishing her freshman season with two goals and five assists, the Howell, New Jersey native scored one goal over four games last season before the knee injury ended her 2013 campaign.
Morgan said Anthony may play beyond her 40-minute threshold against the Midshipmen but added Galanti won’t return any time before the conference opener against Rutgers on Sept. 12.
“Both of those kids really need to get their fitness levels up,” Morgan said. “They’re getting their touch, they’re getting their feel for the game, and the two of them, just in training, have been a handful together.”
Berman, meanwhile, is battling a hyperextended knee she suffered in the Terps’ season-opening loss at No. 1 UCLA. Morgan said Berman trained a little Wednesday but still needs some more time before she’s ready to return to game action.
In her freshman season, Berman started 17 games in the midfield and finished third on the team in points. Morgan believes the leading returning scorer can help replace the scoring void left by forward Hayley Brock and midfielder Ashley Spivey, who combined to score 18 of the Terps’ 35 goals last season.
“She had a fantastic preseason, and she had some really good moments against UCLA,” Morgan said. “She’s going to be a good player for us.”
In the absence of Anthony, Galanti and Berman, a variety of players have appeared in the scoring column. Five different Terps have netted a goal, with forward Alex Doody as the only player who has scored more than once.
But as the season progresses, the Terps will look for a few players to become reliable scoring options. And though the sidelined players might not replicate Brock’s numbers from last season, they’re talented enough to make the Terps much more dangerous in the final third of the field.
“Those two girls right there are two of the hardest workers and two of the strongest girls on our team,” Doody said of Anthony and Galanti. “They have a really big hunger to go to goal and put the ball in the net.”
