UCLA defender Philip Naef hadn’t scored a goal throughout his entire collegiate career. The only points he tallied were six assists.
But the sophomore shined against Maryland men’s soccer on Thursday, adding two more assists to his total. He followed that up with his first college goal.
Naef’s four-points created an insurmountable deficit for the Terps. Third-seeded Maryland fell to the sixth-seeded Bruins at SeatGeek Stadium in Illinois, 6-0, dumping it out of the Big Ten tournament.
The Terps will await an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in hopes of receiving a home game in the first round. They’re chance at a top-16 seed and an opening round bye took a hit in their fourth straight defeat and fifth consecutive match without a win.
Maryland’s attack didn’t register a shot in the first 15 minutes. The Terps’ attack struggled to end the regular season — starting in a 1-1 draw against UCLA on Oct. 21 — scoring just three goals across four outings.
The Terps won a free kick in the attacking third in the 26th minute, one of their best chances to that point. Forward Max Rogers lofted a ball deep into the box and won a header, but he went for a goal himself and his effort floated over the crossbar. Bruins goalie Wyatt Nelson caught another set piece later in the first half.
[Maryland men’s soccer’s losing streak continued, but its offense showed life]
Rogers was the catalyst again minutes later, picking out forward Colin Griffith with a low ball inside the area. Griffith stuck a foot in but couldn’t redirect the ball on goal.
Maryland didn’t put an attempt on target in the first 45 minutes for the second straight contest. The Terps only notched two shots on goal in the first-half of the previous meeting with UCLA and just three in the entire match.
The Bruins struck right before halftime to start their dominance.
Naef ran onto a throw-in right on the goal line, picking out Jose Contell inside the box. The forward took one touch before flashing a shot past Maryland goalkeeper Laurin Mack in the 34th minute. It was their first goal scored in the opening half of a game in over a month.
Naef provided the assist in UCLA’s lone goal against the Terps in the regular season matchup, and was instrumental in the first three goals of the quarterfinal.
[No. 10 Maryland men’s soccer drops regular season finale to No. 1 Ohio State, 2-1]
Defender Nicholas Cavallo raced down the left sideline ahead of Maryland’s Jace Clark. The space let Cavallo cross the ball all the way across the face of goal. Naef ran to the back post unmarked, tapping in the second UCLA goal with 56 seconds left in the first half.
The Bruins’ scoring spree didn’t stop.
Forward Andre Ochoa stood in the middle of the penalty area as Naef looked for an option. Nobody picked up Ochoa as he latched onto the end of Naef’s second assist for a third goal.
Edrey Caceres touched home a fourth goal three minutes later with no Terp defender near the midfielder, and Sveinn Hauksson extended the lead to 5-0 in the 67th minute. Artem Vovk tallied the Bruins’ sixth goal.
The six goals allowed is the most Maryland has conceded since 1993, coach Sasho Cirovski’s first season as the Terps’ leader. Maryland has now given up 14 scores over its five-game winless streak after its defensive capitulation against the Bruins.
