By Hannah Fields
The Maryland women’s soccer team (7-8-3, 1-8-2) came up short against the Purdue Boilermakers (10-6-2, 5-4-2) when they traveled to Purdue for the regular season finale.
Before the game, Purdue senior forward Maddy Williams was honored for setting three new Purdue records. She proved her dominance by scoring both goals of the night for Purdue, securing the 2-0 loss for the Terps.
The game began with both teams keeping possession in the midfield but only a few shot attempts on goal. By the 10th minute, the game was still deadlocked at zero. The Maryland backline remained solid against the pressure that the Purdue offense was putting up until the 12th minute; a cross from Purdue’s Vanessa Korolas made its way to Williams and past Terps goalkeeper Rachel Egyed for the Boilermakers first goal of the night.
The Boilermakers continued their pressure on the Terps defense, getting multiple shot attempts on Egyed. The goalkeeper had to keep Maryland in the game for the entirety of action.
The beginning of the second half looked more promising for the Terps, who were able to put pressure on the Purdue defense and goalkeeper Erika Yohn. The biggest test for Egyed came 52 minutes into the game when the Terps were called for a foul after Boilermaker Sarah Griffith was taken down inside the box. Egyed proved her skills, as she has the whole season, by making a diving save to the left post after a penalty kick from Petrina.
Although the Terps were only down one goal for the majority of the second half, the momentum changed quickly when Williams scored her second goal of the night, her 14th of the season. She shot a long ball straight past Egyed to the net. Though the Terps kept trying to find shots on goal for the remainder of the second half, they came up empty as time expired on the clock.
With this win, the Boilermakers earned a berth in the Big Ten Tournament as a likely 7th or 8th seed thanks to Williams’ two goals. The Terps will end their season with a 7-8-3 overall record and a 1-8-2 conference record, a four-win improvement from last season’s record.