As Maryland men’s soccer midfielder Eryk Williamson sprinted toward the flag post, his 26 teammates trailed him. They couldn’t wait to embrace him with hugs.
In the 98th minute of the Terps’ game against Wisconsin on Friday, Williamson kicked midfielder Cody Albrecht’s pass into the air. Wisconsin midfielder Alex Masbruch tried to gain possession of the ball by heading it, but the ball landed back in front of Williamson’s feet. The sophomore strike pierced the back netting, the game-winning goal in No. 1 Maryland’s 3-2 overtime victory at Ludwig Field.
The result marked the eighth straight victory for the Terps, who clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season title with four matches to go.
“It had a feel of a championship game,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We have some mentally strong players. Today we needed it and we came through. I’m so proud of my team.”
The Terps (11-0-2, 6-0-1 Big Ten) held a 1-0 lead with 64 minutes remaining, but the Badgers erased the deficit three minutes later.
Badgers forward Christopher Mueller sent a free kick into the box to defender Sam Brotherton. In mid-sprint toward goal, Brotherton one-timed the ball into the left side of the goal.
Shortly after that, Mueller sprinted into the box and goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier dove onto the ground in an attempt to stop the ball. Before the senior could corral the ball, Mueller crossed to forward Mark Segbers, who was open in front of goal. He struck the ball into the unguarded net. The Badgers (7-3-2, 3-2-1) sprinted towards the goalpost and corralled him in celebration.
While Maryland grouped into a circle like it always does after giving up goals, Cirovski screamed at his bench. He grabbed defender Donovan Pines by the jersey from the bench to replace defender Andrew Samuels, who failed to rotate from his left back position on the score.
The Terps fell behind for the first time since Sept. 18, and their shutout streak of 11 halves vanished.
“We got a little stretched,” Cirovski said. “The first goal … it was an innocent looking ball. It looked like it was going right to Cody. Their kid came out and it was one of those bam-bam plays. The second goal was on a careless turnover. They countered on us. That’s something we haven’t given away lately.”
But as they have each time they’ve given up a goal this season, the Terps responded.
In the 88th minute, midfielder Amar Sejdic sent a cross into the box. Defender Chris Odoi-Atsem headed the ball toward the right goalpost, and fellow defender Alex Crognale, one of Maryland’s captains, scored on a header for his second goal of the game.
That prompted forward Gordon Wild to jump up and down in front of The Crew, spinning with his arms in the air. Others ran back into position while raising their arms toward the crowd of 4,646.
“I went in for the corner kick and Amar played a good near post ball,” Crognale said. “[Odoi-Atsem] found himself in a good spot and was able to get a good flick on it. I just kind of anticipated it and put myself in a good position to head it home.”
That set up the score from Williamson, who was in Cirovski’s dog house late in regulation.
The veteran coach felt Williamson had to fix his mentality and play smarter on defense, so he scolded the Alexandria, Virginia, native after replacing him in the 74th minute. Williamson returned to the contest in the 86th minute.
With Cirovski’s message in mind, Williamson lifted the Terps to victory and their fourth regular season conference title in the past five years. Crognale said Friday’s result showed promise for how poised Maryland can be in the postseason.
“We were challenged as a team and we responded,” Cirovski said. “That’s what you have to do. It’s part of the identity of the team and growth of the team over a season. We showed some championship fiber in the same game we showed a little bit of weakness.”
