By Christopher Cox
The Maryland Terrapins (5-9-0, 0-6-0) could not hold off Ohio State’s offensive assault Sunday afternoon at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field in Columbus, Ohio as the Buckeyes (8-3-3, 3-2-2) topped the Terps 2-1 with an early goal in double overtime.
The Terps took the lead in the 59th minute of play when sophomore forward Alex Anthony scored her eighth goal of the season off an assist from senior defender Kayla Shea.
Shea brought the ball up the right side of the field, making it past midfield without facing any pressure from the Buckeyes. After settling Shea’s pass with a defender on her back, Anthony made a quick touch to get the ball on her right foot and crushed a shot from 20 yards out that banged off the left post and went in for the first score of the game.
Anthony again accounted for most of the Terps’ offense, recording seven of their nine shots with four on goal. Maryland’s offense has not been in mid-season form lately as they have now scored just two goals over their last six games.
Ohio State’s first goal came off a penalty kick in the 73rd minute after Michela Paradiso was taken down near the goal box as she and Shea battled for possession of the ball. Nikki Walts stepped up to take the penalty kick and buried the shot in the left side of the goal, tying the game 1-1.
Both teams had good chances to score in the last five minutes of regulation but the goalies didn’t crack under the pressure. Senior goalkeeper Rachelle Beanlands saved nine shots for the Terrapins and Ohio State’s Jillian McVicker made three saves in just more than 100 minutes of action.
With about four minutes left, Paradiso found herself one-on-one against a Maryland defender on the left side of the field. Paradiso made a quick move toward the middle of the field, sending the defender to the ground, and took a shot at the lower-left corner of the goal, but Beanlands dove and knocked it away.
Anthony had the best last-second opportunity to win the game for the Terps with a minute and a half remaining in regulation. Senior midfielder Erika Joab lobbed a pass into the penalty box that fell to the forward with four game-winning goals on the season, but Anthony’s left-footed shot went right into McVicker who had no problem stopping it.
Instead, the golden goal came just 40 seconds into the second overtime period from Ohio State’s leading scorer, Nichelle Prince. The Buckeyes’ coordinated attack caused Maryland’s defense to fall apart, leaving Prince wide open at the top of the penalty box to net her sixth goal of the season, assisted by Paradiso, and send the Terps home with their sixth straight loss.
The Terrapins’ backline had an unusually poor performance, giving up 23 shots when they had been holding their opponents to an average of 12.1 shots per game. They also allowed the Buckeyes to take seven corner kicks after opponents were averaging 3.2 corners per game.
Maryland will look to start a winning streak when they play the Indiana Hoosiers Thursday at 7 p.m. in Bloomington.
