The Maryland men’s soccer team appeared beat with three minutes remaining in its match at No. 4 Indiana on Friday night.
The Hoosiers controlled possession throughout the match and held a 1-0 lead while outshooting the Terps, 16-10, through 86 minutes. Yet No. 5 Maryland found a way to stay alive against its biggest conference competitor.
In the 87th minute, defender Alex Crognale scored off an assist from defender Donovan Pines to knot the game at one.
The Terps held on to tie Indiana, 1-1, in their Big Ten opener.
“It was a disappointing start and a fantastic finish for us,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “I was proud of the way the guys responded. It was good to show the resolve on the road against a top team to come out on top. We pushed for the tie and then the win. I was proud of that. We know it certainly wasn’t our best effort, but it was a good reaction after going down this early.”
With the tie, Maryland (3-0-2) remains unbeaten in its five games against Indiana since it joined the Big Ten in 2014. The Terps have come out victorious in three of those contests – two of which came in the Big Ten Tournament — and tied the Hoosiers twice.
The Terps entered Friday on a three-game win streak in which they outscored their opponents, 11-2. Yet against the Hoosiers (3-0-2), Maryland was without midfielder Eryk Williamson, a regular starter, after a South Florida player made contact with his head in the team’s game Monday. Cirovski said Williamson will be re-evaluated before Maryland’s contest at Rutgers on Tuesday.
Cirovski said his squad and Indiana play similarly, and that was on display from the start. Both teams put high defensive pressure on each other, but the Hoosiers controlled the tempo throughout. They took advantage by scoring in the seventh minute.
With 11 players in the Terps’ box, Indiana defender Andrew Gutman attempted a shot. Goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier dove onto the ground while a group of Terps defenders blocked the attempt. However, the ball landed at Hoosiers midfielder Richard Ballard’s feet with no defenders in front of him. With Niedermeier still on the ground, Ballard struck the ball into the goal.
The Terps also gave up an early goal the last time they played on the road. UCLA scored two minutes into the teams’ match Aug. 26.
“It was just they came out wanting it more kind of goal,” Niedermeier said. “It was unfortunate, but you could tell they weren’t giving up on the ball. The bounce went that way. You deal with it. We call our team in and we react to it and we come out flying again.”
The Terps sent long kicks down the field throughout the contest instead of working the ball through their midfield per usual. So Cirovski addressed the issue at halftime, telling his players they need to play with more urgency.
“It’s just our mentality,” Crognale said. “Guys need to be more focused and more driven and ready to go when that first whistle blows. I can’t say that I have an answer for that, but it’s something we’re going to be focusing on these next two weeks.”
The players stayed positive and gave each other encouragement and tips throughout the match. All the Terps needed was one goal to even the match, and they got it.
Pines headed the ball into the box, and Crognale positioned himself in front of Gutman as he kicked the ball into the back of the net. Indiana goalkeeper Colin Webb laid on his chest in front of the goal in disappointment after the ball slipped through his palms.
Maryland continued its momentum into overtime, as it outshot Indiana, 2-0, and had the best look at goal with about 40 seconds remaining.
Though the Terps, who entered Friday with the most points in the Big Ten (38), didn’t come out with the same offensive firepower they played with entering Friday, they stayed resilient to draw with their conference rival.
“It was … a wake-up call for the guys who’ve been here,” Niedermeier said. “Every Big Ten game is going to be a battle. It’s such a tight-knit conference. Every time you set onto the field, people are going to want it. We got to want it more and use our talent to separate ourselves.”
