Maryland looks to get its third road victory of the season on Sunday.
After a 1-0 victory on Thursday over Navy, Maryland women’s soccer (2-1-2) looks to build a winning streak on Sunday night at George Mason (1-2-2).
“I think last night’s game was really big for us. We got to play a lot of possession and play like more our style of play.” Lauren Wrigley said on Friday. “So, I think just building off of that and then just using these next few games against local opponents to continue to prepare for confidence is gonna be huge.”
Maryland is 12-1-0 all-time against George Mason, the Terps only loss came in 2016 at home. The Terps have won the last five meetings.
Sunday night’s affair will kick-off at 5 p.m. from Fairfax, Va., and will stream on ESPN+.
George Mason Patriots (1-2-2, 0-0-0 Atlantic 10)
2023 record: 3-15-0, 3-7-0 Atlantic 10
The Patriots are coming off their first win of the season, beating Northern Colorado, 2-1, Friday. It was George Mason head coach Aaron Brunner’s first career win after being hired in December 2023.
The coaching change came after the Patriots lost 15 of their 18 matches in 2023. This season, George Mason lost to both Elon and William & Mary and drew with Howard and Campbell.
Players to watch
Selamawit Caldart, junior goalkeeper, No. 1 — Caldart is George Mason’s goalkeeper this season and has started all five matches. She has allowed nine goals on the season and made 24 saves. Caldart has a 1.80 goals against average and a 72.7% save percentage
Katelyn O’Donnell, graduate midfielder, No. 2 — O’Donnell transferred in this season from Radford and scored her first goal of the season against Campbell. O’Donnell was a strong force in her four years at Radford, starting in 18 games last season.
Mia Casciani, junior midfielder, No. 4 – Casciani had two assists in George Mason’s last match against Northern Colorado, which gives her the team lead. Casciani was held off the scoresheet as a sophomore, but as a freshman she scored a goal and recorded two assists.
Strength
Saves. Caldart has been strong for George Mason in net, she has made 24 saves on the season compared to opponents only making 20 saves.
Weakness
Chances. George Mason hasn’t found many chances to score in 2024. The Patriots have been outscored 9-6, outshot 69-42 and outshot on shots on goal 33-26.
Three things to watch.
1. Can the Terps continue their road dominance? Maryland is currently 2-0 on the road in 2024. With two straight road games ahead, the Terps look to keep that trend going.
“We’re 2-0 on the road now, and I think that we put a lot of focus into those games, because those are hard just because they’re on the road,” Kelsey Smith said. “I think that we are a good team, and do have the advantage that others don’t, because we do have such good fan base that still travels with us, and being close to home.”
2. Finding an identity. Maryland is still trying to figure its identity throughout the early going of the season, and with every game comes another opportunity for the Terps to find it.
“I think we continue to talk about just like, finding our identity. And I think with every game we’ve had to face a different type of style.” head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer said. “So what I’m really excited about is to see how we’re blending how we play, but also utilizing what the opponents are giving us.”
3. Beardsley’s presense. Liz Beardsley is the anchor of Maryland’s defense and has helped the Terps to a 2-1-2 record. She’ll look to continue to do so against a struggling offense.
“She gets good direction from behind us. She’s not like the most talkative, but in a good way, like she tells us what we need to know.” Katie Coyle said. “It doesn’t have to be like this repetitive thing over and over again. So it’s nice, like a common presence back there, for sure.”