Maryland hold New Hampshire scoreless in 5-0 rout

After an impressive season-opening win against Richmond Friday, the No. 2 ranked Maryland Terrapins continued their dominance by shutting out New Hampshire, 5-0.

With this quick turnaround so early in the season, Maryland displayed tremendous conditioning and effort as they completed their opening homestand against the Wildcats, craftily creating a number of scoring opportunities.

In the first half, the Terps’ offensive display felt like an avalanche as they thoroughly overwhelmed New Hampshire offensively. They ended the first half with 12 shots on goal in 14 attempts. By the end of the game, Maryland had 25 total shots with 18 of them being on goal opportunities.

Terps head coach Missy Meharg said the team put a lot of emphasis in practice into goal scoring. “This year, I'm super impressed, as I said a couple of days ago with our depth,” Meharg said. “We have a lot of young women that can score goals--a lot of different women -- it feels really good.”

In Friday’s game, Maryland defender Bodil Keus came off the bench to score a goal. She got the start in today’s game and scored the team’s first goal. 

Last season’s Big Ten Defender of the Year got the Terps off to a hot start when she ripped a penalty shot into the net at the 12:25 mark of the first quarter. Forward Bibi Donraadt and midfielder Madison Maguire both assisted on the play.

Throughout the game, the trio of Donraadt, Maguire, and Keus continued the playmaking trend with Donraadt scoring two goals, Maguire creating several shots for herself and teammates, and Keus’ fortifying the team’s backend.

"I think we were all really connecting well with each other,” Donraadt said about Maryland’s synergy. “Everyone was ready to score and save the goal and that's the most important thing--to connect with each other and win games."

Donraadt’s first goal of the season came with 6:54 to go in the second quarter as she scored off a long pass from Keus where Donraadt was able to dance her way through the Wildcats’ defense and chip the ball off the top of the crossbar into the net. The second goal came three minutes later when she knocked the ball into the cage after it rebounded off the corner.

Behind staunch defense, clean passing and a versatile yet aggressive counterattack, the Terps limited offensive opportunities for New Hampshire in the first half; the Wildcats was held to zero shot attempts in the first half and only six in the second. Behind Keus, Maryland remained stout in their pursuit of a shutout as New Hampshire could not find the net.

In the nine-minute mark of the fourth, the Terps nearly doubled their lead when seniors Maguire and Jen Bleakney scored consecutive goals within 30 seconds of each other. 

Having missed on several shot attempts in the first half, Maguire’s first goal of the season came with 9:41 left in the fourth when she maneuvered past the Wildcats’ defenders and goalkeeper to slap the ball into the net. 

Seconds later, Maryland, on the counterattack, struck again when Maguire found the forward Bleakney on the near side for a goal. This would register as Bleakney’s second goal in just as many games as a graduate-transfer.

The Terps will travel to Evanston, Illinois for the 21st Big Ten-ACC Challenge where they will face No. 13 Boston College on Friday at 2 p.m and No. 3 Duke on Sunday.