When the Maryland men’s soccer team allowed the nation’s leading scorer a clear path to the net in the 50th minute Tuesday night, coach Sasho Cirovski could be heard yelling from the sidelines.

The defensive game plan was simple against No. 7 Denver: keep multiple players near forward Andre Shinyashiki when the Pioneers were in possession. But the Terps were caught watching the ball rather than the lethal attacker, and it almost led to a fatal mistake.

The subsequent pass to Shinyashiki was slightly offline and forced him to take a lunging shot at goal. Maryland caught a break, as goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair didn’t have to budge from his spot to stop the ball.

The near-letdown gave Shinyashiki his second shot of the game, but it was also his last after Cirovski’s scolding. Maryland tightened its defense down the stretch, neutralizing one of the country’s best players to hold on for a crucial win.

“He was the main guy coming into it,” defender Chase Gasper said. “We’ve had an incredible defense all season. We knew we were in good hands, but we knew we really needed to focus on him with all the goals he’s scored.”

[Read more: Maryland men’s soccer finally gets marquee win with 1-0 defeat of No. 7 Denver]

Shinyashiki entered the game with 21 goals in 13 games this season. Collectively, the Terps had the same number of goals in their previous 21 games, dating back to 2017.

But in that moment at the beginning of the second half, there was little attention on Shinyashiki. As Denver midfielder Kenny Akamatsu dribbled up the left flank, Maryland defensive midfielders Andrew Samuels and Eli Crognale jogged slowly, watching him, while Shinyashiki broke hard toward goal.

Fortunately for the Terps, goal No. 22 evaded him.

It was the sole time Maryland appeared to lose sight of its objective to contain Denver’s one true scoring threat. Aside from Shinyashiki — who has accounted for 21 of 28 goals this season — only one other Pioneer has scored more than once.

[Read more: With its season nearing an end, Maryland men’s soccer needs wins — not moral victories]

For the rest of the contest, the Terps never seemed to lose sight of Denver’s top threat. Shinyashiki was left without a shot for the final 40 minutes of the game, even with the Pioneers pushing hard for an equalizer.

“We needed to have an extra guy around him,” Cirovski said. “Our two center backs and two defensive midfielders did a great job on him. We really minimized entry passes to him, which is the starting point.”

On Shinyashiki’s only other attempt of the game, he was able to get off a shot without a pass being played to him.

In the 16th minute, he stole the ball from Akamatsu as he wound up for a shot. Shinyashiki took one touch onto his left foot, creating enough space in between Maryland defenders Brett St. Martin and Donovan Pines for his own attempt. The ball skipped once before St. Clair snatched it up with ease.

Maryland knew Denver would be fresh, as it was the team’s first game in eight days. The Pioneers were also coming off their only loss of the season, an additional reason to believe they’d play inspired offense fueled by their superstar.

But despite averaging five shots per game, the Brazilian forward mustered just the two tries against a Maryland backline that protected an early lead. The effort earned the Terps an important upset over a top-10 team late in the season.

“We needed a great defensive effort the rest of the night,” Cirovski said. “Denver was off since last Monday, and we knew they were going to being a lot of energy and a lot of quality. We needed to be at our best on the defensive side of the ball.”

The Terps dropped 10 players into the defensive third late in the contest, clearing the ball whenever possible. The desperate defending cemented the team its second win this season against a top-25 team.

With another ranked win finally stamped onto Maryland’s resume, the Terps feel confident they’ve turned their postseason fortunes around heading into the final three games of the regular season.

“We’re going into these last few games with the mentality of winning,” Bin said. “If we keep playing the way we’re playing, making the NCAA tournament shouldn’t be a problem.”