The No. 16 Terrapin women’s soccer completed a successful opening weekend Sunday with a 3-2 comeback victory over visiting Missouri at Ludwig Field.
After rolling over Iona, 6-0, on Friday, the Terps faced a stiffer test in the defending Big 12 regular season champion Tigers. Despite their obvious success, the Tigers were left out of the NCAA Tournament field and came to College Park looking to harness the ACC’s high RPI with a win to boost their postseason resume.
But the Terps had different ideas, overcoming an early deficit and riding the momentum of three consecutive goals to earn their thirteenth straight non-conference victory.
“[Missouri] got an early one, and that made us a little bit nervous,” coach Brian Pensky said. “But it woke us up and inspired our kids. We were on fire after that.”
Forward Ashley Grove’s third goal of the season in the 71st minute proved to be the game-winner. It was her second game-winner in as many games.
Early on, it certainly appeared that the Tigers had an upset on the mind. They jumped out to a 1-0 in just the sixth minute, when a floater found its way past Terp goalkeeper Yewande Balogun.
The Tigers were able to hold off the Terps’ potent attack until the 37th minute, when Sade Ayinde blasted a header past Tiger goalkeeper Jessica Gwin off a corner kick to knot the score. Amy O’Sullivan put the Terps ahead for good early in the second half, and despite a 78th-minute Tigers goal, the Terps were able to hold off a comeback.
“We knew if we competed hard in the second half we’d get our goals,” Pensky said.
The come-from-behind nature of Sunday’s victory is something Pensky was relieved to see, as he had expressed worry that his team would lose some of its hunger as a result of its high preseason ranking. He added that the Tigers had a similar up-tempo style of play to that of No. 1 North Carolina that kept the Terps from getting into a rhythm early on.
The Terps (2-0) will continue to gear up for conference play — a warm-up they’ll need in a conference with six other teams ranked in the top-17 — next weekend in Knoxville, Tenn., where they’ll play unranked Tennessee and Kennesaw State as a part of the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic.
– Conor