As Terrapin forward Annesia Faulkner prepared to take a corner kick in the first half of Sunday’s loss against No. 11 Duke, six of her teammates pushed into the penalty box in hopes of getting a touch on the ball and putting it in for a goal.
But Faulkner’s cross never reached her teammates. Her kick, which was headed to the near post, was picked off by a Blue Devil defender and cleared out of the attacking zone.
That situation has become all too familiar for the Terps this season.
Even though the only goal in their 1-0 win against Miami last Sunday came off a corner kick, it was hardly a scripted goal. A miss-hit cross was turned into a goal when forward Kaila Sciascia was able to get to it before the Hurricane defender could clear it out.
Most teams view free kicks and corner kicks as golden opportunities to put pressure on opposing defenses and goalkeepers. The Terps have struggled with the set pieces throughout the season. A main reason for their low number of goals this season – they’ve only scored one in their last five games – has stemmed from their ineffectiveness on dead balls.
But in order to be effective, the Terps need to make a play on the ball, something they haven’t be able to do recently.
“The services need to be a little bit better. They have to clear the near post,” midfielder Nataly Arias said. “But, services aside, we have to have more of a mentality to attack the ball and want it more than them.”
While the Terps have struggled offensively on set pieces, they’ve also been guilty of poor defending on opponents’ dead balls.
Too often this season, as was the case that led to Duke’s lone goal Sunday and Florida State’s game-winning goal three games ago, the Terps have been out-worked for 50-50 balls in the air. When the ball is up for grabs in the box, hustle and desire can be the difference between scoring a goal and clearing the ball out.
“That’s how they got their goal,” Arias said of Duke defender Ashley Rape’s header that was the difference in Sunday’s game. “She didn’t do anything special – she was just there and attacked the ball. That’s the simplicity of it. We’ve got to want it more than the other team.”
Simple or not, the Terps know if they want to start getting results to show for their solid play, the offense must produce.
Coach Brian Pensky is still trying to find an offensive lineup that can produce on a consistent basis. He has played around with the Terps’ starting forwards in the past three games, mixing and matching the speed and athleticism of freshmen Jasmyne Spencer and Danielle Schulmann with the strength and experience of Sciascia and Faulkner.
While Pensky said the change in lineups has made the offense more difficult to defend, the forwards need to do more if scoring is to increase.
“I think they’re all working pretty hard, but not one of them had more than one shot [Sunday],” Pensky said of the forwards. “Granted, their minutes were shared, but they all played anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes, and that’s plenty of time to be dangerous. We’re searching for players to be dangerous and, right now, we don’t have that.”
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