By Christopher Cox
It didn’t take long for sophomore forward Alex Anthony to bring some action to Sunday night’s game at Ludwig Field against the Navy Midshipmen, scoring 13 seconds after kickoff. She would score again in the second half off a well-played corner kick to help the Terps beat Navy 2-0.
Senior defender Amanda Gerlitz quickly gained possession of the ball off the kickoff and sent a long pass up field to Anthony who was working against her defender with her tenacious offensive mindset already in full gear. After boxing out the defender, Anthony only had to beat the goalkeeper to score one of the quickest goals in NCAA history and put Maryland up 1-0.
“Amanda’s an extremely technical player and she can drop a ball on a dime … so it wasn’t a surprise when it came through,” Anthony said on the designed play.
In her entire redshirt freshman season last year, Anthony accumulated 12 shots with six shots on goal and scored two goals. She recorded those same numbers in Sunday night’s game alone.
When asked what her performance in the first two games of this season does to Anthony’s confidence, head coach Jonathan Morgan said, “I call her our alpha female because she just walks around and believes in herself and knows that she can score goals. For her … being injured the last two years, this is great for her.”
Maryland’s second goal came in the 64th minute of play off a corner kick sent in by senior midfielder Riley Barger. It went to senior midfielder Sarah Molina, who headed the ball up toward the goal, but needed another header from Anthony to make it in the goal.
“A big focus for us coming in to the game was to be strong in the air. I was just thinking to send it into the box knowing my teammates are going to be committed to attacking the ball and they did,” Barger said.
The Terps’ defense held strong again, allowing Navy only six shots and one shot on goal. Rachelle Beanlands’ lone save came from a free kick in the second half.
Maryland controlled possession for a majority of the game, finishing with 18 shots and seven shots on goal, but the players would like to see the ball in the back of the net more often. “This week of practice we just have to focus on [repetition] and make the most of our opportunities because they don’t come around all the time so we just have to finish what we have,” Barger said.
Maryland will look to keep their strong start to the season going when they face the No. 15 West Virginia Mountaineers Friday night at 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field.
