PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw against Maryland at Rhodes Field on Sunday evening. Penn's goal came in the first half, but the Terrapins responded with a second-half goal and the teams finished the 90 minutes on level terms.
Senior captain
Sizzy Lawton capitalized on a yellow-card foul by Maryland in the first half to open Penn's 2022 account with the first of her two shots on the night. Sophomore
Isobel Glass also had two shots and
Paige Kenton recorded a shot to bring the Red and Blue total to five on the night. Junior goalkeeper
Laurence Gladu allowed just one goal while making three saves on eight total shots by the Terps.
Quaker Notemeal
*This marks the first time in program history Penn has opened a season with back-to-back draws. (Of note, this is also the first college soccer season without overtime periods during the regular season.)
*Penn was outshot by Maryland, 8-5, and the Terps also held a slight edge in corner kicks by the same 8-5 margin.
*The two teams had their fair share of offsides called, as Maryland heard the whistle four times and to three by Penn.
*Freshman
Anuli Okafor made her first start and logged 26 minutes in her collegiate debut.
How It Happened
Maryland brought the pressure early as it had the first shot in the game in the third minute that went wide left.
Penn was able to work around back-to-back corners about 50 seconds apart for Maryland before taking possession to the other end of the pitch.
Paige Kenton was poised for a great chance at a breakaway goal in the 33rd minute, but she was fouled just outside the top of the box. A yellow card was given to Maryland's Malikae Dayes while Lawton lined up a potential shot. The senior's free kick went screaming into the upper far corner, past the diving Terps keeper, to open the scoring and give Penn its first goal and first lead this season.
Lawton looked to double Penn's lead but her second shot of the night went wide left in the 41st minute.
Glass had a pair of quality chances to score in the 53rd minute. Her first shot was saved by a Terps defender and then her second shot from the top of the box was blocked, denying her of a chance to add to the scoring.
On the hour mark, the Terps played a ball in front of the Penn goal and put home the equalizer past the diving Gladu. Maryland then looked to add another goal a few minutes later, but Gladu made a quality save to keep the match at 1-1.
After the Maryland goal, Penn was only able to record a single shot, off the foot of Kenton in the 76th minute.
In the final 15 minutes, the pressure was on the Penn defense as Maryland fired off four shots. The first was blocked by the Penn defense, the next two were saved by Gladu, and the final shot of the game which came in the final 30 seconds was high over the goal.
UP NEXT
The Quakers hit the road for the first time in 2022 but will not travel far for their next opponent. The Red and Blue will hit the Main Line to take on Villanova on Thursday at 4 p.m. Penn then returns to Rhodes Field on Sunday to start a three-match homestand, hosting Lehigh (Sept. 4), Navy (Sept. 8) and Stony Brook (Sept. 11).
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