Freshman Jeremy Hall’s goal in the 41st minute was not enough, as the Terps dropped their first game of the season 2-1 Friday night at Clemson.
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Terrapin men’s soccer team started against Clemson on Friday night out of rhythm and finished the game frustrated.
The Tigers, backed with the deafening noise of a sold-out stadium, scored early and controlled the ball for most of the first half. The Terps did not provide much offensive push early and were lucky to score on their first real chance in the 41st minute, tying the game at halftime.
But midway through the second half, the Terps appeared to get their chance to take control after junior midfielder Maurice Edu was fouled. While Edu grimaced in pain on the ground, Tiger defender Alan O’Hara was shown a second yellow card, equating to a red card.
While the Terps had the opportunity to take over, it was Clemson that found a way to score the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute, beating the Terps 2-1 at Riggs Field.
“We were up one man, so it should be easier for us,” freshman midfielder Jeremy Hall said. “But it didn’t look like it.”
In front of 6,821 fans – and probably a few more with stragglers watching from behind the fence of the field – the Terps started slow, allowing what looked like a goal by Clemson in just the second minute. However, it was waived off because of an offside call.
“They came out hard, they came out fast, and we didn’t do a good job to match that intensity – something that we normally do well,” senior midfielder A.J. Godbolt said. “The hostile crowd got to us a little bit.”
In the 11th minute, Clemson forward Frederico Moojen received a perfect cross and chipped it into the back of an open net.
The No. 1-ranked Terps answered late in the first half when senior defender David Glaudemans sent a ball toward the goal. Hall stood with his back to the goal and let it nick the right side of his head. The ball trickled in the net, tied the game and quieted the crowd for the first time.
“I got into the box, Glaudemans had it on the left side, he just whipped one in,” Hall said. “I just made a run-in, and I flicked it to try and get it on target – luckily it went in.”
In the second half, the Terps came on much stronger. In the 45th minute Godbolt sent a ball into the box that curled toward the back of the net, but shimmied wide after it ricocheted off the crossbar. In the second half, the Terps out-shot Clemson 11-3.
After the red card, it looked as if the Terps were poised to at least leave Clemson with a tie. Instead, after a perfect cross that came from Seitz’s left, midfielder Danny Poe sent a header into the goal and put the Tigers up 2-1.
The crowd stomped the stands and burst into thunderous cheers – making more noise than they had all night.
And 16 minutes and 2 seconds later, the Clemson fans rushed the field as the defeated Terps slowly paced back to the locker room.
“I felt like when they had the red card, we were in good shape,” Terp coach Sasho Cirovski said. “They scored a great goal on attack that was perfectly executed. They rose to the occasion tonight, and we let one slip away.”
Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com.
