Women's soccer settles for 0-0 draw vs. N.C. State

In the waning moments of overtime at Ludwig Field yesterday, Brian Pensky went all in.

With his Terrapins women's soccer team locked in a 0-0 stalemate with N.C. State, the seventh-year coach assembled the fastest frontline he could, hoping to generate some offense for a struggling Terps squad.

But forwards Hayley Brock, Shade Pratt and Jasmyne Spencer couldn't come through, proving equally as ineffective as those they'd just replaced and leaving the Terps with a second straight disappointing result.

Playing their fifth game in 15 days and coming off a shocking loss to No. 13 Boston College Thursday night, the No. 11 Terps saw a stagnant offense fail to capitalize on the opportunities presented in a 0-0 tie.

"I like to think this wasn't kind of a … hangover from Thursday night because we were two minutes away from getting a pretty good win," Pensky said. "I thought we came out and competed. Sunday games are tough."

Such were the Terps' offensive struggles that Pensky turned to Pratt, a speedy freshman who hadn't seen game action since Sept. 7 against American, and Spencer, who wasn't expected back to the team for another two weeks because of injuries she suffered Sept. 11 at James Madison.

That Pensky ever might have needed the two seemed hard to believe considering the team's start. The Terps (7-2-3, 0-2-1 ACC) got behind N.C. State's defense, something they'd been looking to do more often in conference play, but the precision of the passes was missing on a handful of scoring opportunities.

In the 49th minute, N.C. State's (8-3-1, 0-2-1) goal was left open during a scrum in the box, but the ball was cleared before it could be scored. That moment proved pretty indicative of how the game was going to go for the Terps.

"We're in a little rut, but I feel like we just need to maybe take a couple steps back and figure if we need to change anything," defender Lydia Hastings said.

If there was a positive to the game, it came from the defense, which put up its eighth shutout in 12 games this year. Still, the Terps' backline, which has featured a rotating cast due to injuries, suffered another blow yesterday when Kristen McAfee went down with an apparent knee injury.

With an attack that leans on the Terps' defense to lead to offense, especially from Hastings and Megan Gibbons, Pensky said the Terps' recent schedule may have taken a toll.

"They are also a big part of our attack," he said. "When they're getting forward, it helps us. That's where, again, in this five-game stretch, we've played two full overtime periods and eight minutes against BC, so it essentially becomes five-and-a-half games in 15 days. In that stretch, every game has been an absolute battle."

The Terps run the risk of falling further behind in the ACC with a match at Clemson on Thursday. The team has already seen its national stock drop, and the No. 3 national ranking it held as of two weeks ago now seems like a distant memory.

"Right now, I hate to say," Pensky said, "but it's about trying to find it in you to scratch and claw and get a result."

dgallen@umdbk.com