By Ben Tugendstein
Maryland could not take advantage of any opportunities Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field and 90 minutes and two overtime periods passed without the back of the net being touched as visiting Michigan State defended just well enough to leave College Park with a draw.
Maryland had three plays in the first half that seemed destined for goals. The first came in the 17th minute; Riley Barger delivered a good looking corner kick to junior Sarah Molina whose header ricocheted off a defender and to Lauren Berman. Berman blasted a shot from just outside the box but it was wide left.
The Terrapins’ next two chances came halfway through, and at the end of the first half. But both times, the passes were just a bit out of the range of the runners.
The second half was more of the same as the Terps had chances on the Spartans side of the field. But Michigan State goalkeeper Courtney Clem came up big for the Spartans as she blocked six shots and stopped the Terps every time down the field.
The final push for Maryland came in the 93rd minute. Cory Ryan and Shade Pratt worked a quick play against most of the Michigan State defense. Ryan dribbled through a trio of defenders and fired, but she misfired – wide right.
An offensively challenged Michigan State team was awarded a free kick in the final minute, but they couldn’t capitalize wrapping up a scoreless draw.
Despite a disappointing result, Coach Jonathan Morgan stayed positive after the game.
“We defended well, and we’ve been defending well over the course of the last four games,” Morgan said. “Our possession is getting better, we had one poor half against Michigan, but outside of that our possession has been very good. We asked the kids to do a lot of things in training, make some adjustments.”
The Terrapins move to 3-3-2 overall and 1-1-1 in Big Ten play. They continue their season at Iowa on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. followed by a game at Nebraska on Sunday at 2 p.m.
