Maryland women’s soccer goalkeeper Rachel Egyed stood her ground when tasked with stopping Nebraska midfielder Haley Hanson’s 27th-minute penalty kick.
She dove to her right to punch away Hanson’s effort, making one of a handful of important interventions in the first half of Thursday night’s contest.
However, Egyed’s heroics could not prevent the Cornhuskers from eventually breaking down the Maryland defense in a 3-0 Terps defeat.
Egyed was called into action early when, in the 11th minute, Cornhuskers forward Elyse Huber used her pace to get behind Maryland’s defense. In a one-on-one situation, Egyed placed a strong hand high and to her right to keep Huber from giving Nebraska (8-3-2, 2-1-2 Big Ten) the lead.
The Maryland (7-4-2, 1-4-1 Big Ten) keeper was busy in the beginning stages. The Cornhuskers applied a lot of pressure as the Terps, playing with three center backs and defensive-minded wingbacks, sat back and absorbed wave after wave of attacks.
The hosts found a breakthrough in the 38th minute when the Terps couldn’t clear the ball after a Nebraska cross. After the ball bounced around the six-yard box, substitute midfielder Theresa Pujado flashed a shot by Egyed for the opening score.
About a minute into the second period, the Cornhuskers notched a second conversion. A cross, again from the left side of the Nebraska attack, trickled to the back post where Hanson, who missed the penalty earlier, tapped it in.
Hanson struck again with a powerful header in the 62nd minute, putting the match out of reach. The Cornhuskers maintained their dominance in possession throughout the final 28 minutes.
Nebraska fired 15 shots, eight of which were on frame, while the Terps only managed three total shots over the 90 minutes.
They didn’t attempt a shot after an effort from midfielder Darby Moore in the 29th minute until midfielder Jordan Schaefer had a chance go wide in the 86th minute.
