About a minute after Maryland women’s soccer midfielder Sydney Staier fired a left-footed effort just wide of the frame, Wisconsin forward Dani Rhodes had a chance of her own. But her attempt hooked left of the post, too, and the scoreless draw continued.
After Maryland’s 3-0 loss to Minnesota on Friday, coach Ray Leone expressed disappointment in his team’s second-half effort, in which the Terps competed for “45 minutes and not for 90.”
Maryland (3-6-4, 1-3-1 Big Ten) similarly fought hard to keep the score against No. 22 Wisconsin (8-2-3, 2-1-3 Big Ten) level at the half Sunday, but the Terps seemed to make a significant adjustment from their prior match, coming out of the break dominating possession against a highly favored side.
And throughout the overtime period, the Badgers and Terps exchanged blows but failed to break through en route to a 0-0 draw, Maryland’s best result over a ranked foe this year.
“Coming off of what we did the other night [against Minnesota], just that second half being so poor,” Leone said. “And to just play from beginning to end, the whole overtime and everything, it was really an incredible performance.”
Maryland, who mostly played on their back foot in the opening stages, came out for the second half looking to control the play. Early on, it appeared as if the Terps would be content holding a clean sheet. But a second-half adjustment signaled a shift onto the attack.
In just over 10 minutes of action after halftime, Maryland earned five corner kicks and controlled the action between the two sides.
Leone also opted to make a change in goal at the half, as he replaced starter Rachel Egyed with Erin Seppi, who saw action for the first time since Aug. 31 against Temple. Egyed had a tough outing on Friday when she allowed three goals, one of which seemed to be routine shot that trickled through the redshirt senior’s legs.
Early in the season, the Terps implemented a two-goalie system, but the goalkeepers haven’t seen time in the same game since Maryland’s home-opener against Appalachian State.
After the game, Leone said he made a decision to switch goalkeepers at the half prior to the matchup in Wisconsin. He wanted to keep Egyed fresh and get his other talented keeper some Big Ten experience, and both goalies responded.
The Terps nearly scored the first goal of the game when midfielder Hope Lewandoski gained possession in a dangerous position in the 62nd minute. Goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer rushed out to cut down Lewandoski’s shooting angles and denied the sophomore’s shot. The rebound trickled to the feet of forward Alyssa Poarch, but she lifted the attempt just over the crossbar.
Late in the first half in Maryland’s loss to Minnesota, the Terps allowed a demoralizing goal, nullifying their effort during the early stages of the matchup.
Maryland made the adjustment to avoid a similar first-half letdown against Wisconsin. The Terps defense stood strong, keeping its shape and holding the powerful Badgers attack off the board despite a 4-2 shot discrepancy and seven Wisconsin corner kicks.
Of the Badgers’ seven corner chances, only one directly resulted in a Wisconsin shot, as the Maryland defense did well to clear away the set-piece attempts before they resulted in shots.
However, the Terps didn’t capitalize on their defensive performance with counters on the offensive end. Wisconsin prevented Maryland from earning breakaway chances, and the game remained scoreless at the half.
Despite the promising play from the Terps on Sunday, the offense couldn’t quite break through. In a match that included 22 combined shots and 20 combined corners, neither Maryland nor Wisconsin could notch a game-winning goal, and the game ended in a scoreless draw.
“We’ve played five games in the Big Ten,” Leone said. “And out of the 10 halves we’ve played, we’ve only played poorly in one. … These teams are good, they’re not going to go down easy. You have to beat them.”
