When the ball skipped into the back of the Maryland men’s soccer team’s net with 18 seconds left to play Friday night against No. 4 Indiana, several Terps hunched over, hands on their knees.
For the second time in three weeks, Maryland’s opponent scored with less than a minute remaining in regulation. It was yet another mental lapse for a team desperately in need of positive results.
With only one win over a ranked opponent in six attempts this season, Maryland (4-5-3) will be entering must-win mode when it takes on No. 3 Denver on Tuesday night at home.
“We need to get results and we need to win these mental moments in games and stop having these bitter feelings at the end of games,” coach Sasho Cirovski said after the loss to Indiana. “There’s no silver lining here.”
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For much of the season, the Terps haven’t felt the sense of urgency they have now as they enter the final four games of the season. Often they found moral victories despite not winning big games.
A season-opening loss to then-No. 24 Washington wasn’t worrisome; it was the first game of a long campaign. In the next two matches — draws against three-time defending national champion Stanford and then-No. 7 Virginia — Cirovski found comfort in his team’s competitiveness.
When UCLA beat Maryland 1-0 on Sept. 8, the team still remained confident in its defense while its offense had yet to score. Then, after scoring nine goals in a five-game stretch, it was an excess number of fouls, including a red card, that received the blame for Maryland’s 2-0 loss to Michigan State.
But on Friday, for the first time this season, there were no excuses and no bright side as the mood changed looking ahead to the last stretch of games in the regular season.
The team’s RPI is still 33rd-best in the country, but with a record below .500, Maryland could be in jeopardy of not making the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000.
“I think ‘good enough’ is not good enough now,” forward Paul Bin said. “I think we’ve come to a point where we need to pick up results now.”
[Read more: No. 4 Indiana scores 90th-minute winner for 2-1 win over Maryland men’s soccer]
Cirovski took pride in scheduling tough opponents this year. He said it would make his young squad tougher, and felt they would be trending in the right direction as the season closed. While the team may be tougher, the results haven’t come.
Now, the Terps have a pressing need for results. An inspired underdog mentality pushed the Hoosiers to the brink on Friday, but the effort still fell short against one of the best teams in the country.
“Everything looked like we were going to be the one that was going to end up with the winning goal,” Cirovski said. “In just a split second they snatched victory from us and it’s heart wrenching to see our guys not get the results that they deserved.”
Tuesday’s game against Denver will be Maryland’s penultimate chance to earn a win over a ranked opponent before the Big Ten tournament begins. The Pioneers went unbeaten in their first 12 matches this year before losing, 3-0, to Virginia last week.
When Denver comes to Ludwig Field on Tuesday, the Terps must contend against the nation’s leading scorer, forward Andre Shinyashiki, who has 21 goals in only 13 games. He’s had seven multi-goal games, including three hat tricks.
As a team, Maryland has managed 10 goals in one less game played.
The Terps cracked Indiana’s stingy back line Friday, using Bin’s strike to equalize the game in the second half. Even though the Terps lost, their offense showed positive signs and had they not missed out on several chances, they might have left Bloomington with a different result.
Maryland is still searching for another elusive resume-boosting win, and it has a second consecutive shot against a top-five team in the nation. With the season rapidly nearing an end, there’s no room for silver linings anymore.
“There are no moral victories in our effort,” Cirovski said. “We need to start winning games.”
