By Jackson Wantman
Maryland women’s soccer drew Big Ten foe Purdue, 0-0, at Ludwig Field for their second game of conference play Thursday night, as the Terps were hoping to bounce back after a demoralizing 4-0 loss to Penn State this past Friday.
Maryland began putting pressure on Purdue early in the game, maintaining possession and even winning a corner.
The Terps continued to mount the pressure on the Boilermakers’ defense, consistently getting the ball into Purdue’s offensive third. Sophomore star Ava Morales won a second corner for Maryland with thirty-three minutes left to play in the half, as well as taking three shots on Purdue goalkeeper Kailey Kimball; all of which skied over the net.
The Terps dominated possession in the first forty-five, having the ball 68% of the half.
“Knowing that we can play with each other and just developing those relationships a little bit more off of the field outside of games and practice…” said junior midfielder Lauren Wrigley after the game, “I just think like trusting each other with the ball and knowing that even in tight spaces just to bump and get it back it’s going to buy us a little bit more time.”
Yet, Maryland’s defense was the star of the first half, quickly neutralizing any attack Purdue gathered.
Purdue’s first real chance didn’t even come until the 34th minute when redshirt junior Victoria Kevdzija’s free kick went wide left of the net.
The Terps got another massive chance in the 37th minute, with Ava Morales taking another corner which led to Lisa McIntyre taking a shot saved by Kimball.
Just 15 seconds later, Peyton Bernard nearly gave Maryland the lead, with her second shot of the game going off the crossbar in a tense chain of events in Purdue’s box.
The Terps’ offensive energy continued early in the second half with Maryland quickly regaining possession from Purdue and taking their eleventh shot of the game which went wide left.
It took Purdue until the forty-eighth minute to take their first shot of the game, when senior Emily Mathews’ kick went off target.
Maryland got two more big chances within the first ten minutes of the second half, when Lisa McIntyre’s shot from inside the box was saved by Kailey Kimball, and Maryland was awarded their fourth corner which they were unable to capitalize on.
The Terps continued to create more chances for themselves, constantly bending the Boilermaker defense which continued to stand their ground and not break.
Purdue got their first corner kick in the fifty-seventh minute, nearly getting a shot on goal but were unable to get one off on the Maryland defense.
Both sides traded some offensive counterattacks during the middle parts of the half, however, the only shot on goal from either side was a Catherine DeRosa chip on the bottom right of the net.
Things started to get slightly chippy early on in the last twenty minutes, with Maryland’s Kat Parris and Purdue’s Victoria Kevdzija getting shown a yellow card for separate tackles.
Purdue got another chance late in the seventy-fifth minute when Zoe Cuneio’s header went just over the net off of a Lauren Omholt free kick.
Freshman defender Kennedy Bell went down with a shoulder injury in the seventy-seventh minute after challenging and winning a header in Maryland’s box. Despite the injury, Bell returned to the game in the eighty-first minute.
Liz Beardsley had a relatively quiet day until a sensational game-saving stop in the eighty-third minute off of a scary Purdue counterattack.
Purdue made a last-ditch attempt to win the game on a late corner with twenty-one seconds left in the game but was unable to convert.
Despite the draw, head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer was pleased with the way her teams bounced back tonight.
“I thought our response was really good…” said Nemzer, “I thought that we showed that we can compete in the Big 10 and I thought the mentality was good.”
Maryland moves to 3-2-5 on the season and 0-1-1 in Big Ten Play. They will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes (4-3-2, 0-1-1) this Sunday at Ludwig at 1pm EST.
By Jackson Wantman
