BALTIMORE — Maryland men’s soccer forward Luke van Heukelum put the Terps in front with five minutes to go. But they allowed UMBC with one last chance to tie the score.
Hans Nesheim swung a cross into the box. Joseph Picotto leaped the highest to connect with the ball, glancing a header past Maryland goalie Laurin Mack into the top corner.
The Retrievers’ late tally denied the Terps a season-opening win as Maryland drew with UMBC, 1-1, on Thursday at Retriever Soccer Park. The Terps (0-0-1) failed to win their first game of the season for the second straight year.
“It was one silly mistake,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “One gift of a ball, and they had a nice cross and a good finish.”
Maryland ended the 2023 season with the second-worst offense in the Big Ten. The Terps scored just 20 goals in 15 games, posting just 49 percent of their total shots on frame.
Newcomers Sadam Masereka and Max Rogers poised a threat down the flanks for the Maryland attack, a unit looking for improvement from last year. Rogers totaled five shots in the first half, putting three on frame in a scoreless period.
[Maryland men’s soccer looks to rebound after its worst season in two decades]
Colin Griffith found space in the box in the final two minutes, but flashed an effort wide of the post as Maryland entered the break without a goal.
Masereka found more space down the left wing after halftime to create a number of scoring opportunities for the Terps.
The transfer from Lindsey Wilson College used his pace to break into the penalty area on multiple occasions. Masereka blazed a shot wide of the left-hand post after he won Maryland a corner to begin the new half.
The Terps’ breakthrough came with five minutes left in the game when van Heukelum tapped in a low cross delivered by Cameron Gerber, but Maryland’s overall lackluster offense proved pivotal late in the match.
Well before scoring the final goal, UMBC (0-0-1) posed the bigger threat early in the match on Maryland’s goal against a back line that struggled a year ago.
Maryland’s defense was third-worst in the Big Ten last season. The Terps conceded 23 goals in 15 games, giving up an average of almost two scores per game.
[Maryland men’s soccer releases 2024 schedule]
Maryland was without its starting center back pairing from a season ago against the Retrievers as Bjarne Thiesen was withheld from action due to an injury, according to a team spokesperson. With freshman Jace Clark assuming Thiesen’s role, he combined with William Kulvik to post a first-half clean sheet.
The duo, linking with left back Luca Costabile and right back Brian St. Martin, held UMBC to just one shot on frame over the first 45 minutes. Kulvik made a vital block to deny Alek Wroblewski, and Mack palmed away another Wroblewski midway through the opening half.
The Terps’ back four limited the Retrievers to six shots — four off target — in the second half. Wroblewski placed UMBC’s second shot on goal right at Mack, who made a comfortable save to deny the forward.
But the defensive efforts were undone with three minutes to go from full time as Picotto nodded in the equalizer.
“When it’s three minutes left on the clock and you’re up [1-0] away, you got to come home with the W,” Kulvik said. “That’s just something everyone’s gonna have in the back of their minds.”
Maryland’s inability to hold the lead leaves it searching for its first win of the season against No. 16 Georgetown at Ludwig Field Sunday night for its home-opener.
“I told the guys I was extremely pleased with the effort,” Cirovksi said. “We stuck with it, even when it wasn’t great in the first half. We played an excellent second half. We got a great goal, a team goal, and then we gifted them a couple of opportunities at the end, and they capitalized on one.”
