The Maryland men’s soccer team was about seven minutes away from penalty kicks with Michigan on Sunday when forward George Campbell received a pass from forward Gordon Wild at the top of the box.
Campbell spun through two defenders and struck the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net to lead Maryland to a 3-2 victory.
Campbell has been a spark for the Terps all season off the bench, but he’s made significant contributions the past two contests. After making his first start of the season last week, Campbell scored the game-winner Sunday to keep No. 1-seed Maryland in contention for its fifth consecutive conference tournament title.
“We expect that from George,” forward DJ Reeves said. “He brings that to practice and he brings that to every single game. It shows the guys who maybe aren’t bringing that intensity or are lacking it, it raises their level because you know you have a guy like that. You want to match his intensity because it’s fantastic.”
Last season, Campbell played 16 of the team’s 23 matches while battling nagging injuries. He made contributions when he was healthy, though, such as when he scored a hat trick against Penn State — becoming the first Terp to score three goals in a match since 2005.
Coach Sasho Cirovski has monitored Campbell’s minutes all season so he doesn’t suffer another injury, and it’s worked. The junior has played in every game. He often enters toward the end of the first half and in the middle of the second half for either Wild or forward Sebastian Elney.
Campbell’s energy has shined as the Terps have come out flat in some of their games over the past month. When Campbell entered the Terps’ match against San Diego on Oct. 3, for example, the squad had recorded just one shot. A few minutes later, Campbell assisted Reeves’ goal.
“I try to come in and bring as much energy as I can like a little gnat,” Campbell said. “My role is to bring whatever I can whenever I can to the team.”
Against Michigan on Oct. 30, four of the Terps’ top offensive players didn’t play due to food poisoning and injuries. So Campbell started and played 97 minutes in Maryland’s 3-2 win. Though the Baltimore native came off the bench Sunday with Maryland’s starters healthy, he didn’t leave the game after entering in the 61st minute. Cirovski was upset with his team’s intensity, but Reeves said Campbell helped raise it.
In the 103rd minute, the 5-foot-8, 172-pound striker scored his third goal of the season on his fourth shot of the contest, prompting midfielder Keegan Kelly to tackle him to the ground.
“I’m ecstatic with George right now,” Cirovski said. “He’s been one of the best players against Michigan the last two weeks. He’s fit now and giving us a lot of quality.”
Off the field, Reeves said Campbell is also one of the most positive players on the team. He encourages his teammates after they make mistakes.
That’s the kind of enthusiasm Cirovski wants from his squad when it plays against No. 4-seed Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament semifinals on Friday.
“He definitely brings a different level of spark,” midfielder Amar Sejdic said. “If you see someone else on the field who’s working hard and really running around trying to win the ball back, it kind of makes you feel obligated that you need to put in the same effort as him. Every time he comes on the field, it’s a little change in energy. It’s something that really gets our team going when we need it.”
