By Christopher Cox
The Maryland Terrapins (5-5-0, 0-2-0) dropped their second game in a row after losing 0-2 to the Northwestern Wildcats (8-1-2, 2-0-1) Thursday night at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.
The Terps managed to get just five shots off, with three on goal, against a Northwestern team that has held their opponents to an average of nine shots per game. Maryland’s first shot came with six minutes left in the first half, an attempt from sophomore forward Alex Anthony that got over the Wildcats’ goalkeeper but banged off the crossbar.
Both of Northwestern’s goals came from junior forward Addie Steiner, with senior midfielder Niki Sebo assisting on both goals as well. Steiner leads her team with 12 points on the season, registering four goals and four assists in 11 games.
Steiner scored her first goal in the 15th minute after a Maryland defender could not clear a pass sent into the penalty box. The ball fell to Steiner, who had timed her run perfectly to receive the ball behind the defense, and was able to easily shoot around Terps goalkeeper Rachelle Beanlands.
In the 64th minute, Sebo found a wide-open Steiner in the penalty box, who just had to dribble around Beanlands and put the ball in an open net to tally her second goal and solidify the Wildcats’ lead.
Excluding their 5-1 performance against Yale, Maryland’s defense has held their opponents to eight goals over 9 games, but the offense has only scored seven goals on the season. Anthony accounts for four of those seven.
Maryland now travels to play Illinois Sunday at 2 p.m. The Fighting Illini are 6-2-1 and undefeated at home.
