After the second straight game where Maryland women’s soccer blew a two-goal lead and settled for a tie, coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer reiterated her faith in her squad’s capabilities.
She attributed Sunday’s setback, where the Terps gave up two goals in three minutes, to a change in momentum after facing a penalty kick in the 79th minute.
“We’ve got to be a little more intentional about closing out games right now,” Nemzer said. “We’re going to look at that as a coaching staff and how we can make that better.”
The Terps were in a similar situation during Thursday’s 3-3 tie with Navy. Madison Krakower increased Maryland’s lead to 2-0 in the 14th minute with a right footed strike across the face of the goal for her first collegiate tally.
[Maryland women’s soccer blows two-goal lead again in 2-2 draw to James Madison]
But Navy went on to score three straight goals in the second half and led by one in the 74th minute. In desperate fashion, Maryland pressed its attack, taking every opportunity towards the net to avoid its first loss of the season. They succeeded as Katie Coyle sliced the ball in the left side net with 12 minutes remaining to tie the squads up.
“I think we got to talk a little bit about game management,” Nemzer said. “Looking back on it, there’s way too many numbers on the attack at that point, and we got countered. So I think that will come with a little bit of maturity.”
On Sunday, freshman Lisa McIntyre earned herself a brace, scoring her first two goals in her career. Her tallies gave the Terps another seemingly comfortable lead.
But Maryland fell apart as the match inched closer to its final minutes. Missed passes in the midfield and consecutive defensive misreads gifted the Dukes with more scoring opportunities — ones they capitalized on to even the score.
[Maryland women’s soccer surrenders two-goal lead, scores late to tie Navy, 3-3]
McIntyre felt Maryland pushed unnecessarily hard to score a third goal. Instead, she believed taking a defensive approach for the rest of the match fit the Terps’ game plan more.
“Midway through, I think we just got to chill down. We didn’t need that third goal that we were pushing for,” McIntyre said. “We just have to be more mindful about when it’s time to just control the game, pull back and take control.”
James Madison shot the ball eight times and scored twice in the second half after failing to register a shot in the first.
“I know 2-0 is one of the worst ways to be up on a team because one goal, and they’re right back in it, which is sadly what happened today,” McIntyre said. “But it’s a learning experience, so just move in the right direction for our next game.”
The Terps look to get out of a four-game winless streak Thursday as they take on Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond.
