When its opponent takes a penalty kick, the Terrapin men’s soccer team normally has no problem making the stop, and when the Terps play at home, they normally don’t have a problem getting the win.

But in Saturday night’s game, the normal didn’t happen.

In a tied game in the second half, as Boston College forward Charlie Davies walked toward the penalty-kick line, the Terps’ past success at stopping penalty kicks should have made everything fine for the team. Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Seitz hasn’t let a PK goal past him in regulation during his college career.

But this time, there was one twist: In the game that finished as a 3-1 Terp loss, Seitz wasn’t allowed even to try to make the stop.

A few seconds after the referee pointed to the line, he lifted his red card at Seitz because the goalie mistimed a slide and extended his arms, taking down a Boston College player.

Within moments of the questionable call, the Ludwig Field fans booed louder than they had all season, and coach Sasho Cirovski screamed from the sideline as Seitz slowly walked off the field and Terp freshman goalie Josh Mikulewicz prepared to replace him.

Mikulewicz, who has yet to play in a game, went from standing in front of the bench, bundled because of the 45-degree weather, to running onto the field toward the goal seconds before one of the biggest plays of the game.

He couldn’t make the save.

Mikulewicz dove to his right and the ball went to his left. Boston College (7-5-1, 3-2-1 ACC) went ahead 2-1 and tacked on another goal later to give the Terps their first home loss in exactly two years.

After the game, Cirovski hardly gave a glimpse as to how he felt about the red card.

“I would love to comment,” Cirovski said. “But I, unfortunately, have to take the high road.”

The players were not made available to the media after the game.

In the past two years, the Terps have excelled in penalty-kick situations and winning at home. But that wasn’t the case in this game – the Terps were 1-of-2 on penalty kicks, let one in and gave up three goals for the second consecutive time.

“In either penalty box, we didn’t make the plays we needed to make today,” Cirovski said.

With just under five minutes left, something else out of the ordinary happened.

With the Terps losing by two goals on a cold night, the second-largest home crowd – an announced 6,214 fans – shrank drastically as wards of fans left early.

“It’s incredibly tough. You’re taking the best goalkeeper in the country out of the lineup and you’re going a man down,” Cirovski said, echoing the feeling. “That’s a tough hole to come out of.”

Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com.