In a move to try to tally a goal in the final minutes of the Terrapins’ 2-1 loss to Clemson Friday night, coach Sasho Cirovski went to his big guy.

He moved 6-foot-5-inch freshman Omar Gonzalez – normally Cirovski’s centerback – to forward to give the Terps a major height advantage in an attempt to tie the game. Cirovski hoped Gonzalez would finish on crosses that floated into the box.

The only problem with the plan was the Terps couldn’t get the ball in the right spot for a Gonzalez header – on regular plays and on set pieces.

“Late in the game we were going to have to pump some balls in the box, and he is a big guy,” Cirovski said. “But our services really didn’t give him much of a chance.”

Throughout the young season, Cirovski has said the inability to punch the ball into the box, especially on set plays – such as corner kicks and free kicks after fouls – is something that has concerned him.

Even after the Terps had an outstanding 4-1 victory against national rival UCLA, when asked how Cirovski felt of his team’s progression throughout the season, he pointed out the team’s lack of quality performances on set pieces. Against the Bruins, the Terps scored four times in the game, but all the goals came on breakaways and rebound opportunities.

The Terps have 26 corner kicks and 68 drawn fouls this year. And only twice have the Terps scored from the aftermath of a set piece – such as a ball bouncing around the box eventually being kicked in. Junior midfielder Stephen King’s penalty kick stands as the only set play the Terps have scored on all season.

Friday against Clemson, the Terps were not better on set plays and didn’t have the breakaways and quality chances to carry them like they had in earlier games.

The Terps’ best set opportunity against the Tigers came in the 82nd minute when sophomore forward Graham Zusi sent a perfect corner kick into the box. Sophomore A.J. Delegarza headed the corner wide and a Clemson defender kicked it out. On the ensuing corner, the Terps failed to convert when Delegarza headed another corner wide.

The Terps had seven corner kicks and 18 drawn fouls in the game. On the corners many of the passes were flat and off-target and the passes on the lobs after fouls drawn were usually not much better.

“Our services into the box weren’t quality,” senior midfielder A.J. Godbolt said. “That is something we are normally good at too; everything was a bit off. We almost pride ourselves on good service – professional service – and it was far from professional tonight.”

Clemson handed the Terps their first loss of the season in a game where the Terps were tested more than they have been so far this season. The lack of performing on set pieces finally became an issue Friday.

“It is just execution,” freshman midfielder Jeremy Hall said. “We know how to whip balls in but we are just not putting them in the right places … we practice them, we just need to execute them in the game.”

Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com.