Maryland men’s soccer forward Gordon Wild earned two penalty kicks Friday night at Ohio State. The Terps wasted both chances to get on the board.

Wild took the first attempt, tucking a shot toward the left post that was denied by the outstretched arm of Buckeyes goalkeeper Parker Siegfried. Less than 10 minutes later, Williamson put Siegfried off balance with a hesitation approach, but despite falling to the right, Siegfried managed to use his left foot to stop the soft effort.

Those misses kept the game scoreless until forward Sebastian Elney knocked in an 85th-minute winner to secure one of the most dramatic wins of Maryland’s undefeated start to the season, a game that left coach Sasho Cirovski impressed with his team’s character.

“The second [penalty kick], you figure, this one’s going to go in,” Cirovski said. “The keeper again came up with a big save. … I just had to make sure we didn’t get frustrated.”

Wild is No. 3 Maryland’s primary penalty taker. The German attempted five last year and converted his first two spot kicks this season, but Williamson hadn’t taken a penalty kick in his Terps career before Friday.

“It’s just kind of who steps up, who’s feeling it,” Williamson said of who takes Maryland’s penalty chances. “It was a great save. … It’s not going to do anything for my confidence.”

Siegfried’s penalty saves — two of his 10 total on the night — boosted the Buckeyes’ spirits, but Maryland (9-0-3, 4-0-2 Big Ten) did its best to prevent Ohio State (7-3-1, 3-2-0) from gaining too much momentum.

“Things like that happen in soccer. From last year, our last game ended in a tragic loss just because of momentum,” Elney said, referring to the Terps squandering a late three-goal lead in last year’s NCAA tournament. “Once you save a penalty kick you get a lot of energy, it’s a great feeling. After two, it’s tough, but we definitely stayed in there.”

Ohio State had some periods of attacking success, but Maryland controlled play for the majority of the game. For the Terps to finally score, however, they needed Siegfried to vacate his position.

When midfielder Amar Sejdic sent a cross into the area in the 85th minute, Siegfried came off his post to try and stop it, leaving the net open for Elney’s point-blank shot.

It was the Terps’ second chance at an open net. The first came nearly 80 minutes earlier.

In the sixth minute, Siegfried mishandled another cross. The ball fell to Jake Rozhansky, but after the midfielder put a shot on target, Buckeyes defender Kevin Blackwood cleared it off the line and prevented Maryland from taking an early 1-0 lead.

That score could’ve changed the game, according to Rozhansky. He believes early goals are crucial for the Terps because they force opponents to push forward, opening up space to add more goals.

Instead, the Terps took 20 more shots at Siegfried’s goal until Elney’s breakthrough.

“This wasn’t our first game where we didn’t get exactly what we wanted [from the start],” Elney said. “We kept our heads in and stuck to it.”

Maryland’s attack felt it had improved in recent games, scoring three goals in wins against Northwestern and Connecticut after struggling to find the back of the net in a five-game stretch before that.

Friday’s struggles included perhaps the most painful missed opportunities of any game this year, the team’s first penalty misses of the season combined with a couple of other one-on-one chances Siegfried got the better of.

But in the 85th minute, Sejdic lifted his cross just past Siegfried and found Elney charging to the near post. After the Buckeyes missed a free kick with 30 seconds left, Maryland secured its 29th-consecutive regular season game without a loss and made the missed penalties footnotes in another Big Ten win.

“It was a huge relief, knowing they have our backs,” Williamson said. “It was a huge weight off our shoulders.”