By Gill Vesely

The Maryland Terrapins took 30 shots on goal and made six of them in a 6-2 home opening win over the Saint Joseph’s Hawks Sunday afternoon in College Park.

Despite the humidity, nearly 800 people came out to watch the Terps clinch their second win of the season. Almost all of the Terps’ shots in this final game of the Conference Cup came as a result of corners from penalties by the Hawks. Maryland distributed the ball well, as Faye Curran, Linnea Gonzales, Alyssa Parker, and Anna Dessoye all scored at least one goal. Delaney Leathers also did her part, assisting on half of the Maryland scores.

After the game Head Coach Missy Meharg commented on the significance of allowing playing time across the roster.

“It’s just really important that everybody gets experience,” she said. “We had everybody, I think, that was eligible to play playing today. That’s really exciting for the fans and for the players.”

The Terps looked to Dessoye to insert the ball on many of the corners, but left the Hawks guessing as to who would fire a shot. Meharg discussed the team’s ability to sweep, drag, and hit the ball, saying “we’ve got a lot of different types of techniques that are powerful shots, so we’re fortunate.”

Dessoye herself said the Terps will likely continue to use a similar set-up for corners moving forward due to the success it brought them against SJU. “We’re just using what works,” she said. “It’s not broken, don’t fix it.” In addition to her goal, Dessoye assisted on two other goals in the victory.

Her teammate, Curran, who comes from Cambridge, England and scored her first goal as a Terp just 3:27 into the game, excelled in front of the home crowd. “Coming in as an international student I think you do kind of feel you want to make a difference. [The home crowd] definitely helped me find my stride a bit,” she said.

Maryland will head to Lancaster, Pa. to take on Boston College on Friday, September 4 in the Big Ten/ACC Cup.