Emily Lenhard’s cross off a corner gave Maryland its first two shots at Ludwig Field on Sunday. Her second cross 64 minutes later earned the Terps their first score in a week, with the ball from the left corner soaring over the Dukes’ heads to swish into the top right corner of the net.
Lenhard’s goal broke through Maryland’s offense after an 82-minute offensive stalemate. But the advantage didn’t last long. James Madison’s Sophia Verrecchia put one through the net, ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
“That’s not what we wanted to happen, we wanted to lock them in for the last few minutes,” Lenhard said. “But at the end of the day, I think the game overall was a better response than the last game.”
The result was disappointingly similar to the Terps’ (1-1-2) match against Stony Brook to start their homestand. They led 2-1 in that contest, only for the Seawolves to respond two minutes later in the first half in what resulted as the match-tying goal.
[Maryland women’s soccer loses to American, 2-0, picks up first loss of season]
James Madison (1-1-2) pushed into the Terps’ defensive third early on, where quick footwork earned the Dukes their first free kick in the ninth minute. With four on the Maryland backline, Tahirah Turnage-Morales played deep to slow midfield progressions toward the center, using aggressive physicality to keep James Madison scoreless.
“I give a lot of credit to the backline, I think all of them played 90 minutes,” Meghan Ryan Nemzer said. “I challenged them to be better on the defensive side and I thought that they did a phenomenal job with that.”
The Terp forwards notched numerous crosses in the opening 15 minutes to lead their early offense, the first two back-to-back off a corner by Emily Lenhard. But James Madison’s goalkeeper Sofia DeCerb, who has started the season with a save percentage of .737, proved too difficult as neither Ava Morales nor Kelsey Smith could get a shot past the body of DeCerb.
Maryland’s defense continued to hold off any shots from the Dukes — their first didn’t transpire until three seconds left in the first half. A blocked corner turned into a transition offense for the Terps, where Madison Krakower drew a foul for a penalty kick.
Krakower leaned right and shot. A slight dive by DeCerb blocked the ball with her hands to make the save, keeping the match scoreless as Maryland’s offense failed to capitalize. It outshot James Madison 4-1 in the first half.
[Maryland women’s soccer unable to hold lead, draws 2-2 with Stony Brook]
The half continued the Terps’ recent offensive struggles, spanning four halves and the entirety of their homestand.
James Madison exploded offensively in the second half, notching two shots in two minutes. Maryland responded with similar vigor — a Peyton Bernard shot ealy in the half rolled off the hands of DeCerb, where a defender recovered it on the goal line for the save.
Lenhard eventually struck for the Terps’ lone goal.
The Maryland defense performed on Sunday for nearly the entire match. Liz Beardsley, leading the Big Ten in saves, wasn’t needed to make her first save until the 85th minute. That save was her lone of the match, as she couldn’t make the needed second on Verrecchia’s shot that resulted in the draw.
“I hope we build upon this. I hope that we can continue to go a little bit deeper in our bench,” Nemzer said. “I think that it’s only going to go up from here, but I’m really proud of the team’s responses and how they stuck together.”
