The Terrapins women’s soccer team has dealt with suspenseful situations all season. The Terps played in two overtime games and had to wait until the final day of the regular season to clinch a spot in the ACC tournament.

In all those situations, the team largely controlled its own fate. But yesterday, the Terps were reduced to mere spectators as the 64-team NCAA tournament field was announced.

For the first time in five years, the Terps failed to qualify for the tournament.

“Everyone was sitting on pins and needles,” coach Jonathan Morgan said. “[When the field was announced] the team was crushed. People were pretty emotional. Some people left without saying anything.”

While eight ACC teams made the tournament, the Terps, ranked eighth in the conference, were passed over for Wake Forest, which had a higher RPI and a better record despite not making the eight-team conference tournament.

The Terps were hoping history would repeat itself a year after nine ACC teams were selected for the NCAA tournament. But qualifying for the conference tournament, in which the Terps fell to Virginia, 6-1, in the ACC quarterfinals, wasn’t enough for the Terps, whose biggest win was a 1-0 victory over the then-No. 3 Demon Deacons on Sept. 22.

“Obviously there’s a lot of suspense because we certainly weren’t a lock to get in the tournament,” Morgan said. “I think we all kind of knew it wasn’t about to happen.”

Morgan pointed to three games that sealed the Terps’ fate: losses to Santa Clara, Duke and Boston College,which all qualified for the tournament. He believes that if the Terps had won just one of those three games, they would have been selected for a fifth straight year. All losses were by one goal, and the Terps outshot Duke and recorded as many shots as Boston College in those matchups.

In those key losses, problems that plagued the Terps all season — difficulties with defending corners and scoring goals — were apparent. They scored one goal total and allowed two off corners in the three losses.

The Terps advanced to the second or third round of the NCAA tournament in the past four years. Last season, they lost to Denver, 3-2, in the second round. Despite returning seven of 11 starters, last season’s promise was never reached as injuries and an inability to close out games took their toll.

Morgan has already started thinking about next season and the changes the Terps will have to make. But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about his five seniors, including forward Hayley Brock, the third-highest scorer in program history, and defender Megan Gibbons. For the first time in their Terps careers, they will miss out on the NCAA tournament.

“I said a few words to the team, apologized to the seniors because I thought we could give them one more shot at it,” Morgan said. “Those kids have invested a lot of time and lot of sweat and tears, and it’s a real bummer they won’t be able to go to another NCAA tournament.”