Patrick Mullins wiped tears from his eyes as he walked into the press tent at Ludwig Field last night.

The forward’s goal in the 32nd minute propelled the No. 5-seed Terrapins men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over UC Irvine in the NCAA tournament third round, setting them up for a rematch on the road at No. 4-seed California in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. The moment was bittersweet, though.

With the win, the senior had played for the final time at the Terps’ home field. And it didn’t take long for the reality of the situation to set in after the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“It’s emotional,” Mullins said. “I like to keep my emotions in check sometimes and I don’t think about it too much, but after the game it definitely [hit me].”

After the two teams traded possession during the opening 10 minutes, the Terps found their groove offensively and started producing dangerous chances. Sophomore defender Mikey Ambrose pushed forward from his position at left back and was able to clear space down the sideline, sending several threatening crosses into the 18-yard box that tacking players failed to finish.

With about 27 minutes remaining in the first half, Ambrose found Mullins wide open just outside the 6-yard box, but the senior’s header floated just wide right.

Mullins ended the scoreless tie with just more than 10 minutes remaining in the half, though. Defender Jereme Raley made a strong run with the ball from midfield before dropping a pass to midfielder Tsubasa Endoh down the right sideline. Endoh beat several defenders on his way to the goal line and crossed low to Mullins, who buried a short-range shot into the back of the net for his 16th goal of the season.

“That’s one of those plays [where] it feels like everybody’s just getting sucked to the near post,” said Mullins, who reached 40 points for the second straight season last night. “And sometimes, it’s those delayed runs — I think I was probably the third guy on our team running in. I just took a hard, strong run and I kind of split two defenders and at that point it’s just sort of putting your body on the line.”

The Terps continued to push the ball forward after scoring the go-ahead goal. Midfielder Alex Shinsky entered for midfielder Michael Sauers on the left wing and drove a cross in front of the goal with just more 9 minutes left in the half, but no Terps could get to it.

Shinsky disrupted the defense again with four minutes remaining in the half. Mullins passed to forward Jake Pace at the top of the box, and Pace left a slow rolling pass for Shinsky, who blasted a one-time strike to the bottom right corner that goalkeeper Michael Breslin dove and caught to keep the Terps’ lead at one goal entering halftime.

The Anteaters bounced back after the break and nearly tied the game with 32:33 left in regulation. The Terps backline failed to pick up forward Enrique Cardenas at the top of the box. Cardenas took two touches before blasting a left-footed strike for the top left corner. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who made five saves in the match, rose, extended and tapped the ball over the crossbar, preserving the Terps’ one-goal advantage.

The Anteaters pressured in search of an equalizer for the remainder to the game. Steffen was forced to make another game-saving stop with just more than four minutes remaining, denying forward Lester Hayes III on a point-blank header.

“That’s a talented team,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We knew this would be a really tough game and I think we showed them a lot of respect by coming out with a good performance.”

The Terps and N.C. State faced off at Ludwig Field on Nov. 1 on Senior Night, but Cirovski said he viewed last night as more of a celebration of his seniors than the game against the Wolfpack.

And while emotions were running high after the win, the Terps have comfort in knowing there is at least one more game to be played.

“We always say we want to win our last game at Ludwig in the playoffs, and that’s our Senior Day,” Cirovski said. “This is a special group of seniors. I said at the beginning, this is a seven-member class that’s made up of the best stuff on the planet.”