Maryland women’s soccer vs James Madison preview

After falling in its last match to American, Maryland women’s soccer looks to bounce back on Sunday.

Maryland (1-1-1) will face James Madison (1-1-1) in the first half of a men’s and women’s soccer doubleheader at Ludwig Field.

Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.

James Madison Dukes (1-1-1, 0-0-0 Sun Belt Conference)

2023 record: 9-5-8, 4-1-5 Sun Belt Conference

The Dukes head into the match off a 3-3 draw with La Salle at home on Thursday. Despite having the same record as the Terps, James Madison had a relatively stronger start to the season, scoring three goals in both its season opener and its most recent match. However, it lost 2-0 to Virginia Tech in its second match. The Dukes also fared much better in 2023, winning nine matches compared to Maryland’s three.

Players to watch

Ariana Reyes, redshirt junior forward/midfielder, No. 22 — Reyes leads James Madison this season with two goals and two assists. Reyes has a perfect shooting percentage and has already scored a game-winner. She’s taken a huge step this season after recroding one goal and no assists in 2023.

Shea Collins, senior forward/defender, No. 2 — Collins has been a strong force for James Madison early on, notching goal and two assists thus far. Last season, Collins had three goals and five assists in 22 games and 19 starts.

Sofia DeCerb, redshirt freshman goalkeeper, No. 21 — DeCerb is getting her first taste of collegiate soccer as James Madison’s goalkeeper in 2024. Through three games, she has allowed five goals for a 1.67 goals against average. DeCerb has made 14 saves this season on a 73.7% save percentage.

Strength

Goals. James Madison is averaging two goals per game this season. The Dukes have also outscored their opponents six to five. In 2023, the Dukes scored 29 goals, which was 10 more than the 19 scored by their opponents.

Weakness

Shots. The Dukes have been outshot 39 to 26 by opponents thus far in 2024. Opponents have also had 19 shots on goal compared to James Madison’s 10. James Madison’s shots on goal percentage is 38.5% compared to its opponent’s 48.7%.

Three things to watch

1. Can the Terps bounce back? On Thursday night, a sign of last year’s squad creeped back into fruition as the Terps went scoreless against American. After scoring two goals in each of their first two games, the Terps were not sound offensively.

After Thursday’s game, Maryland head coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer said, “I know that we have goal scorers. Today just wasn’t our night.”

2. Men’s and women’s doubleheader. Maryland men’s and women’s soccer will both play home games at Ludwig Field on Sunday. The women’s soccer game against James Madison will start at 5 p.m. and the men’s game against Georgetown will follow at 7:45 p.m.

3. Who will step up offensively? Maryland is looking for someone to take the lead and step up offensively in 2024. There are a few players on the brink of having productive seasons, including Ava Morales, Kennedy Bell and Kelsey Smith. The Terps will hope for one of those players to take the lead and be a primary scorer this season.