Women's soccer team excited, cautious about NCAA Tournament matchup

Terrapin women's soccer player Jasmyne Spencer has been through a hectic two weeks.

The sophomore forward, who has scored a team-leading nine goals this season, was named to the All-ACC first team last Tuesday, played in her first ACC Tournament game last Wednesday and learned the Terps made the NCAA Tournament Monday.

Tonight, when the No. 20 Terps (12-5-2) take on Monmouth (15-4-1) it will be Spencer's first NCAA Tournament game. But Spencer isn't alone, as none of the players or coaches have ever experienced the 64-team tournament.

The 5 p.m. game couldn't come sooner for Spencer and the Terps.

"It's a whole different ball field for us," Spencer said. "Even the fact that we had a selection show. It's just so exciting that we were even mentioned on TV. It's a huge deal."

While excitement surrounds the team back in the tournament for the first time since 2004, reality has also set in. The Terps have dropped their past three games, including back-to-back matches to No. 4 North Carolina. 

"Tomorrow can't come fast enough," coach Brian Pensky said. "It has been a week for us waiting for tomorrow night. We'll feel some jitters in the morning, but we just want to play."

After scoring 16 goals in six games between Oct. 4 and Oct. 22, the Terps have sputtered offensively. The team has not scored a goal in 195 minutes, while allowing five in that same span. Against North Carolina, they rarely held possession.

For the only Terp player on the All-ACC first or second teams this season, Spencer knows she needs to step it up. 

"We have mentally prepared all season for this moment," Spencer said. "The big thing for us is analyzing each defensive line we face and figuring out the areas we can expose."

Pensky is confident Spencer, who was a consistent scoring threat all season, will find those holes. The Terps will face another stingy defense against the Hawks. Monmouth has recorded four consecutive shutouts entering the game and has only lost twice in their last 18 matches.

All but one of the Hawks' starters have NCAA Tournament experience.

"The words that come to mind are experienced, stingy and feisty," Pensky said. "This game has me very, very concerned."

The Terps do not want to become one-dimensional in their attack, relying solely on Spencer, and hope to spread the ball to both sides of the pitch. With expected wet conditions, Pensky said his team will look to be selective when attacking the Hawks.

In the Terps' eyes, tomorrow night is not the end of the road this season. With a No. 4 seed and home-field advantage, Spencer and the rest of the team are confident they will make a run deep into the tournament. 

"A loss tomorrow night," Pensky said, "would be really tough to take."

eckard@umdbk.com