By Ben Tugendstein
Sunday night saw a number of obstacles facing the Terps’ goal of evening up their record as they come closer to Big Ten play. But neither a thunderstorm nor a defensive minded NC State approach could stop Maryland as they continued to attack throughout the game and walked away victorious, 2-1 in College Park, Md.
It was clear from the beginning that Maryland was going to dominate the possession game, as NC State pulled ten players back to defend, intent to avoid falling into an early deficit and the strategy worked for the first part of the game.
Maryland seemed a bit frustrated at the lack of open space to work with, but finally cracked the code in the 23rd minute when Shannon Collins lifted a long pass to junior Aubrey Baker who raced down the sideline and sent a cross just out of the reach of Wolfpack goalkeeper Mackenzie Stelljes and right to senior Shade Pratt who knocked it into the back of the net to give the Terps the lead.
Maisie McCune was an inch or two from extending Maryland’s lead just a few minutes later when she blasted a shot from 20 yards out, but this time Stelljes was able to extend far enough to hit the ball over the crossbar. The Terrapins had more opportunities throughout the first half but none materialized and the score remained 1-0 heading into the half.
The second half began ominously for Maryland; NC State forward Kayla Saager and midfielder Jenna Kalwa executed a perfect give in go, resulting in a goal for Saager to tie up the game at one in the 48th minute.
The Wolfpack goal, however, did not discourage the Terps’ relentless attack. Collins almost bent a corner kick in the 57th minute straight into the goal before Stelljes tipped it at the last moment. But just three minutes later Collins had another corner kick, and this time she placed it perfectly right to Sarah Molina who snuck through the Wolfpack defense and headed in what turned out to be the game winner.
Maryland retreated on defense for the rest of the game and withheld a ferocious NC State attempt at a draw.
Shannon Collins assisted on both of the Terrapins’ goals and the defense played superbly when needed, surrendering just two shots on goal
The win improves Maryland’s record to 2-2 before they travel to Navy to battle the Midshipmen on Sept. 8.
