COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland’s offense was denied for much of Saturday’s NCAA first round match against Stony Brook, but the Terrapins converted their last two shots of the night to win the game 2-0. Maryland will now travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to play the University of Denver in the second round on Friday.
Becky Kaplan scored the game winner for the Terrapins in the 84th minute. Kaplan forced a turnover in the Seawolves’ defense third. Kaplan’s shot from 20 yards away went into the lower left corner of the net, beyond the reach of Stony Brook’s keeper Ashley Castanio.
Hayley Brock notched an insurance goal four minutes later. Brock’s close range shot found the inside of the right post. Kaplan and Danielle Hubka were both credited with assists.
Prior to Kaplan and Brock’s goals, Maryland offense had been thwarted by sub-par finishing. Maryland racked up 25 shots on the night but a large number of these were relatively tame. Several of the Terrapins’ shots went right to Castanio.
Not all of Maryland’s unconverted shots were tame. In the 16th minute, Ashley Spivey sent a promising long range shot towards goal. Her shot hit off the post and nearly bounced into goal. In the 67th minute, Alexis Prior-Brown rocketed a shot at the Seawolves’ goal. Castanio was able to push the ball over the goal.
After the game, Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan said that he prepared his team for the situation they faced in Saturday’s game.
“We told our kids that there was a good chance that we would be in this situation,” he said. “You know, where we’ve got everything going our way the game for the most part is coming pretty easy for us but we were struggling to score goals.”
He credited his team with maintaining their composure in the game.
Maryland dominated possession throughout the night, although Stony Brook maintained possession better in the first 20 minutes of the second half. The Seawolves’ offense managed only five shots in the contest; all but one of these shots came in the second half.
Saturday’s game was the Seawolves’ first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Stony Brook finishes the year at 12-7-3. (READ MORE on Stony Brook head coach Sue Ryan.)
Denver, Maryland’s second round opponent, beat Colorado College 3-1 in its first round game Saturday.
