Maryland men’s soccer was without leading goal-scorer Colin Griffith, who had tallied a goal in the Terps’ last four matches, on Tuesday.
His absence wasn’t felt.
No. 6 Maryland used one goal in each half to defeat George Mason, 2-0, at Ludwig Field in the Terps’ final nonconference outing of the regular season.
Maryland (8-1-4) earned a quality win out of Big Ten play against a Patriots (10-3-0) side ranking inside of the top-25 in RPI, a metric used to determine seeding for the NCAA tournament. The Terps entered the outing at No. 12, the second-highest Big Ten team.
“We have players that have been waiting in the wings,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We pushed Albi [Ndrenika] further up and we shared the responsibility in some other positions between Max [Rogers] and Sadam [Masereka].”
Maryland employed Albi Ndrenika on the left flank. His usage was prevalent early.
The junior controlled a bouncing ball and broke away from a George Mason defender in the ninth minute. He fired a low shot toward the near post, but Patriots goalie Jaume Salvado kicked it away.
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Ndrenika whipped an in-swinging cross into the box on the corner kick. Defender William Kulvik couldn’t redirect his header onto the goal.
The midfielder later dribbled to the goal line and sent another ball into the box. He tried to pick out forward Sadam Masereka, but a George Mason defender headed the ball clear.
The Terps’ next shot on-goal also came down the left-hand sideline. Instead of Ndrenika, it was Masereka. He tucked his effort away into the net.
The Patriots’ back four played a high line through the initial 30 minutes of the match. They pushed all four of their defenders up, causing the Maryland attackers to begin their runs deep in the midfield area.
Midfielder Chris Steinleitner controlled the ball and crossed the halfway line. Masereka broke down the flank, holding his run to avoid being offside. Steinleitner lofted a ball to the forward, who took a touch and raced to the cage.
Masereka entered the box and hit a shot off the near post to beat Salvado, giving the Terps a 1-0 advantage in the 29th minute.
“I felt that we can catch them in transition,” Cirovski said. “It was a terrific ball by Chris to Sadam, and what a great finish. He’s starting to feel it now.”
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Maryland didn’t place another effort on target for the next 37 minutes. Midfielder Leon Koehl flashed a shot wide of the near post and forward Max Rogers saw an attempt blocked during the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Koehl was responsible for the Terps’ third shot on target. It came from 12 yards away in a spot he’s familiar with.
Maryland was awarded a penalty kick in the 66th minute. The sophomore stepped up and placed his sixth goal of the season — all from the spot and his second in two games — to the goalie’s right to double the Terps’ lead.
“I went down the middle my last one,” Koehl said. “The keeper was like ‘Yeah, I think you’re going to go down the middle,’ and I was like, ‘I’m not.’ Then I just scored on the right.”
Koehl is the first Terp to convert their first six penalties since Patrick Mullins did it in 2013. The former Maryland attacker went nine-for-nine that season.
The Patriots failed to put any of their four attempts on frame in the first 45 minutes as their offense slugged. Each shot came before Masereka’s tally. Their struggles continued in the second half, failing to trouble Terps goalie Laurin Mack. They only put one of their eight shots on-goal in the entire match.
“We dropped into a double pivot, a double six,” Cirovski said. “We were a little smart with the way that we pressured, the way we steered it … our back line did a great job at neutralizing almost every one of their attacks.”
Maryland collected its first clean sheet since September in its third consecutive victory. The Terps end nonconference play with four matches and a two-point lead atop the Big Ten standings.
