The Terrapins lost their first road game of the season in heartbreaking fashion.
After coming back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 late, Purdue scored a late goal to send the game to overtime before scoring the winner in double OT.
The Boilermakers got off to a perfect start, when redshirt junior forward Sarah Griffith scored 30 seconds into the match.
“It was a rough start,” Maryland head coach Ray Leone said. “To get burned on a quick counter 30 seconds in is not the way to start any Big Ten game.”
The Terps tied it up in the 19th minute through junior midfielder Loren Sefcik, assisted by senior forward Mikayla Dayes.
The first half ended 1-1, with Purdue holding the advantage in shots 8-5 over Maryland. The Terps scored on one of their only 2 shots on target in the opening 45 minutes.
Purdue continued to pressure the Terps early in the 2nd half, with redshirt junior forward Sarah Griffith and sophomore defender Chloe Woodbeck both hitting the crossbar within 6 minutes of each other.
The Terrapins scored what looked to be the game winning goal in the 81st minute, when sophomore forward Keyera Wynn headed in a corner taken by senior midfielder Hope Lewandoski. Lewandoski was one of the standout performers for Leone and played all 102 minutes of the match.
“Lew was unbelievable tonight,” Leone said. “I want to see what the GPS tracker says, it probably says 10 miles, and it was 10 miles of sprinting.”
However, the Terps who had some late magic themselves in their previous game against Michigan State, conceded a corner in the last 10 seconds. Freshman midfielder Emily Mathews crossed it in to sophomore defender Chloe Woodbeck, who scored to make 2-2 with only one second remaining, sending the game to overtime.
After a first overtime period in which both teams combined for 1 shot, Purdue scored the game-winning goal after freshman Nicole Kevdzija got in behind the Terps defense and rounded the keeper before finishing in the 102nd minute.
While Maryland will feel frustrated by the loss after leading with only a second to go in the game, the Terps were outshot 24-8 by Purdue’s entire team. They were also outshot alone by Purdue’s redshirt junior forward Sarah Griffith, who had 10 shots in the game. Leone said that the team needs to play faster.
“The choices we’re making in possession are just turning in to more work for us,” Leone said “And when you haven’t played a game in so long… we’re going to have to learn as we go. Now we’ve got some real footage to say what they can do in each situation.”
Despite the result, Leone could still take positives from the game.
“The fight in this team is really promising, even in overtime, their heart was taken out of them [by the late goal] and they still had chances,” Leone said. “We’ve just got to put this game behind us as fast as we can.”
The Terrapins were also clinical with their chances, scoring twice despite only having 3 shots on target the entire game.
After a tough loss, the Terps will now travel to Evanston to take on Northwestern on Sunday at 1pm on BTN+, before returning home to play Ohio State on March 4.
