WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA — Wake Forest’s Joel Torbic took a touch forward and fired a low pass into the box in the 63rd minute. The through ball split two Maryland men’s soccer defenders and fell to the feet of Cooper Flax.
The Demon Deacons’ midfielder settled the ball and slotted a shot into the net. The Terps’ defense was broken through as Wake Forest regained its lead.
Flax’s second-half tally was enough to eliminate Maryland from the NCAA tournament. The No. 8-seed Demon Deacons topped the Terps, 2-1, in the second round Sunday night at Spry Stadium.
Maryland’s season ended in the second round of the national tournament. Its defense conceded four goals over the two outings.
“My heart is empty for the players for not getting the result,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “I think we still left too many chances on the table where we could have pulled the trigger, we could have executed a better cross or finish.”
Wake Forest created most of its attack down the left sideline. Amoni Thomas cut in from that side and forced goalie Laurin Mack to make an early save.
But Mack couldn’t get his hand onto another curling effort two minutes later.
[Maryland men’s soccer scores flurry of late goals to top LIU in NCAA tournament, 5-2]
Midfielder Dylan Borso dribbled into the Maryland box. He cut back in toward the middle of the field and sent an effort flying to the back post, finding the corner to give the Demon Deacons a lead in the 12th minute.
Borso found space again later in the half, but defender William Kulvik got his leg in the way of the attempt.
Wake Forest played the first half with a majority of the possession. Albi Ndrenika had an effort deflected, which Demon Deacon goalie Trace Alphin palmed away. The midfielder later glanced a header that narrowly went wide of the post.
But Maryland grew into the contest. It leveled the score with three minutes remaining in the first half.
Defender Luca Costabile ventured into the midfield with the ball at his feet. Max Rogers stood at the top of the box awaiting a pass. Costabile left the ball for the forward, who placed an effort into the top corner for his second goal of the NCAA tournament.
“After a slow start, we changed some tactics,” Cirovski said. “We settled into the game, and I thought we created a lot of good chances.”
[Maryland men’s soccer to host Long Island in first round of NCAA tournament]
Rogers entered the tournament with two goals on his campaign, ending his final college season with four goals and nine assists.
Wake Forest had more flurries down the left into the second period. Midfielder Jeffrey White raced forward and advanced into the penalty area, but failed to place his shot on frame. The Demon Deacons’ winner came shortly after.
Torbic fed Flax with a defense-splitting pass and the midfielder fired Wake Forest into the lead, an advantage it retained for the remainder of the match.
“It was a terrific pass … that’s a well executed play,” Cirovski said. “We had a couple like that where we could have potentially thread the needle or made a pass like that in stride and just didn’t do it.”
The Terps failed to equalize for a second time. Rogers sent a tame effort on goal from outside the box, but Alphin caught the shot. He also sent a free kick from 25 yards toward goal, but it sailed too high over the crossbar. Griffith turned an attempt goalward but it was blocked.
While Maryland returned to the national tournament this season, a breakdown at the conclusion of the campaign hindered its advancement. The Terps lost four of their final six outings and only won one playoff match.
“At the end [of the season], we sputtered a little bit … some unfortunate sicknesses and health issues, and just a difficult stretch of the schedule,” Cirovski said. “We’re going to continue to try to create more depth for the team next year.”
