For the first time, Maryland women’s soccer faced USC in Big Ten conference play. Ahead of the matchup, coach Michael Marchiano said his team would need to perform at “the highest level” to claim a win.
The Terps lost to the Trojans, 3-0, Thursday in Los Angeles at Rawlinson Stadium.
Heading into the night, Maryland was yet to win a road game while USC won just three of its first six home games. But the biggest difference between the two teams lies in the impacts they’ve had in the conference, with Maryland joining in 2014 and USC in 2024.
Last season, USC made it to the Big Ten tournament semifinals. Maryland didn’t qualify for tournament play, and hasn’t appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2012.
This year, the Terps have fought to prove that their program is evolving with a new head coach and their most wins since 2019.
With echoes of the brutal 4-0 loss to Penn State in their minds, Maryland players knew their defense would likely wear out across the 90 minutes against another high-caliber opponent.
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Still, that same problem emerged early in the match. USC spent the majority of the first half in the attacking third, pressing aggressively on Maryland’s defense.
“We got a lot of pressing actions wrong, and it resulted in us having to run a lot and made the remainder of the first half really difficult,” Marchiano said.
USC forward Maribel Flores gave the team an early advantage, scoring six minutes into the match on a free kick that slipped past goalkeeper Faith Luckey’s dive.
A second USC penalty kick occurred after Maryland forward/midfielder Kate Hawley received a yellow card, but the game was bizarrely delayed by fire alarms the moment forward/midfielder Katie Park approached the line. A few minutes later, Park notched her first career goal and advanced the Trojans to a 2-0 lead.
It was Park who scored again late in the second half, sealing a shutout win against the Terps. The shot didn’t look like it’d be much of an issue, but with Luckey far from the net and Maryland defenders racing to stop a rolling ball, it was able to become a goal.
“I thought the second half was pretty competitive,” Marchiano said. “We could have been better in possession because we defended so much better.”
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Maryland needed more discipline, specifically in holding back from costly fouls on USC. The Trojans didn’t see their first penalty until the second half, while the Terps racked up five fouls.
After a head injury forced her out early against Purdue on Sunday, forward Mckinley Heaven started in her third consecutive game. Heaven secured game-winning goals for the Terps in each of their last two matches.
That offensive prowess was not present Thursday for any Maryland player. The Terps rarely found themselves controlling the ball, contrasting USC’s ability to set the pace of the game and find teammates with passes on the pitch.
The Terps’ inability to complete passes seriously limited the team from executing, and inadvertently gave the Trojans more opportunities to get in scoring position.
Even though the score reflected otherwise, the game was truly only sealed by USC’s early luck with free kicks. In the second half, the Terps were able to make some offensive improvement, opting for scrappy plays when they neared the box and keeping gameplay closer to the center line.
“All we can do is recover, try to take care of the health and wellness of the players, and try to make sure that we’re heading into Sunday with the right mentality and prepared to do what we need to physically play against one of the best teams in the country,” Marchiano said.
