In the 57th minute, Maryland men’s soccer forward Paul Bin threw his hands into the air as his teammates chased him down the middle of Jerry Yeagley Field, eventually catching up to him and beginning the celebration against No. 4 Indiana.
But Indiana matched the chaos with 18 seconds remaining in regulation. Defender Andrew Gutman negated the the Terps’ equalizer with his second goal of the game to win in miraculous fashion.
Thanks to Bin’s strike, Maryland (4-5-3) came painfully close to forcing overtime on the road against one of the nation’s best teams, but its effort was outdone by one of the nation’s best players.
“This game was there for the taking,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We played well enough to win this game or to get a result. To not end up with a result is bitterly disappointing.”
That sentiment is all too familiar.
Maryland entered Friday night trying to prove it was capable of not just competing against the best teams, but also beating them, something it hasn’t been able to do regularly this season.
Cirovski’s squad faced another tough task against a team that’s still undefeated at home this year. Yet for much of the game, the Terps again felt they were the better side.
Maryland got off two shots in the first 12 minutes, but wouldn’t take another one until the second half. After the Hoosiers absorbed the Terps’ early pressure, they increased their own to generate 10 corner kicks in the first half.
Indiana appeared to use one of those set pieces to steal Maryland’s momentum and take a 1-0 lead when Gutman deflected a shot into the net. Instead, he was issued a yellow card for a handball.
The Terps caught a break on Gutman’s first would-be score, but the litany of Indiana corner kicks came back to bite them in the 32nd minute. Gutman headed another shot past Maryland goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, and this time, it counted.
For a Maryland team that entered the night with only nine goals in 11 games, a one-goal deficit on the road against Indiana appeared perhaps insurmountable.
Instead, the Terps capitalized on a set piece of their own for a game-tying strike.
After midfielder Eli Crognale played a free kick into the box in the 57th minute, it was headed out to the top of the box. Bin won the race to the ball and — without taking a settling touch — ripped the ball past Hoosiers goalie Trey Muse and into the top of the net to tie the game, 1-1.
“I’m glad to have gotten the goal,” Bin said. “But I’m very disappointed with the result.”
Both of Bin’s goals this season have been forgotten in heartbreaking losses. He gave the Terps lead on Sept. 21 against Wisconsin, but the Badgers equalized with less than a minute left before winning in overtime. On Friday night, Bin’s heroics were eventually outmatched again.
A 1-1 draw against a top-five team in the country would’ve been a positive result for most programs, but Maryland wanted more. With only one win now against six ranked opponents this year, the Terps desperately needed a resume-boosting victory with the regular season waning.
So rather than playing conservatively for a draw, the Terps pressed on, looking to make a statement. Maryland forced Muse to make several saves on shots that otherwise would’ve provided a comeback win.
Cirovski felt the second half was his team’s best 45 minutes on offense this season. It still wasn’t enough.
“We were trying to get that second goal and trying not to go into overtime,” Bin said. “But again, just bitter disappointment.”
It seemed the even scoreline may hold until the finale whistle, but as Indiana defender Rece Buckmaster dribbled down the right wing and sent a cross toward the far post in the 90th minute, Bin let Gutman get behind him.
The 2017 second-team All-American tapped in the late goal to squash any hope Maryland had at picking up its best win of the 2018 campaign. It cemented another crushing defeat for a team that continues to feel its effort goes unrewarded.
“That’s a terrific team, but we came here and for 70 of the 90 minutes, we were the better team,” Cirovski said. “It’s a really, really tough pill to swallow to not get a result tonight.”
