The No. 4 seed University of Maryland women’s soccer team saw its season come to a close with a 3-2 overtime loss to Denver in the second round of the NCAA tournament Friday night at Stanford’s Cagan Stadium.
Denver got the first chances of the game with an early corner kick and the game’s first shot, but it was Maryland which drew first blood. Senior Becky Kaplan dribbled through the Pioneer defense down the left side and got off a solid strike that was saved by Denver keeper Lara Campbell. But Campbell couldn’t control the rebound and junior Hayley Brock was there to put the rebound in with a sliding effort.
Kaplan was working hard all evening and it paid off in the 60th minute when she took a ball from Foothill Ranch, Calif., nativeAubrey Baker and finished it into the left side of the net from just inside the 18-yard box.
The Pioneers trimmed the Terrapin lead back to a goal in the 68th when Harder took a free kick from 40 yards out and played it inside the 18. Maryland keeper Rachelle Beanlands came off of her line to make a play for the ball, but Nicholette DiGiacomo was able to get on the end of the service first and flick it past Beanlands and into the exposed net.
With :40 left on the clock Baker was called for a questionable foul in the box, giving the Pioneers a penalty kick. DiGiacomo stepped up to the spot and sent the ball to the lower right. Beanlands dove to her left and got a piece of the ball, but it had enough pace to get through and tie the match at 2-2.
DiGiacomo ended the match with a strike into the upper left 90 past a diving Beanlands in the 94th minute.
“I want to thank our seniors for really making this season so special,” said Maryland head coach Jonathan Morgan. “I know they are hurting now but I hope they realize how many great moments we had as a team this season because of their leadership. My heart goes out to them and the entire team because I feel they deserved better than what they got tonight. Unfortunately, life and sport can be cruel. I thought we had a terrific effort tonight. We just weren’t as sharp as we could have been in some areas. from umterps.com
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