Maryland men’s soccer last won a home-opener in 2022. After 35 minutes of play at Ludwig Field on Friday night against Bucknell, the Terps — with a 2-0 lead — seemed destined to erase that stat. 

But dueling fortunes from set pieces hampered Maryland’s attacking efforts. 

Senior defender Jackson Sullivan pulled a goal back for the Bison when he scored a penalty in the 38th minute. On the other side of halftime, senior Leon Koehl — who went a perfect 7-for-7 on spot kicks in 2024 — had his penalty attempt saved. 

Maryland’s one-goal lead was hardly threatened as the Terps remained on the front foot for much of the second half. But, in the 86th minute, senior Ben Shefield scored a header off a corner, squaring the match at 2-2. Maryland came away from Friday with a frustrating draw. 

“This early in the year, [on] set pieces, you’re going to have some breakdowns,” Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said. “I guarantee we will not have those late in the year.”

The scoreline dampened a cohesive performance and masterful display by sophomore forward Stephane Njike.   

Making his Maryland (1-0-1) home debut on Friday, Njike tallied the match’s first score in the 23rd minute. 

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The move started when junior Luke van Heukelum drew three defenders into the box as he controlled a long-range pass just outside of it. The forward made a full turn before passing to the trailing Njike, who leaned to the right before bursting into a channel of space on his left. 

Njike — while falling over — ripped a left-footed shot into the top of the goal to put Maryland ahead 1-0. He nearly added a second-half assist on an inswinging cross that saw senior Sadam Masereka tip in from close range. 

But a video-determined offsides negated the score, erasing what would’ve been a two-goal lead.      

Nevertheless, Njike was expected to bring a diverse attacking skillset to College Park after transferring from LIU in the offseason. He led the Sharks in both goals and assists in 2024. Now with a goal and assist through two games, the Frenchman has matched those presumptions so far.

While the sophomore’s counting stats reflect his stellar start to the campaign, Njike’s dribbling is his premier attribute. It was on display for much of the evening, particularly inside the first 25 minutes.  

Masereka made several runs behind the Bucknell (2-0-1) backline while Njike beat defenders with a plethora of cuts and steppovers. But Maryland’s passing in the final third let it down, until Njike scored the opener. 

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Maryland nearly added another from the ensuing kickoff, but Lapworth made a kick-save to deflect a 20-yard strike from Ndrenika. 

Five minutes later, left back Luca Costabile took a shot from 10 yards further. Lapworth once again went full extension, but came up short as Costabile curled his effort into the top left corner to give Maryland its 2-0 advantage.

Playing from behind had been familiar for the Bison, who won both of their first two matches in comeback fashion. They only faced single-goal deficits in each of those matches though, making the Terps’ lead seem relatively comfortable. 

While the Bison took their sporadic set-piece chances, Maryland certainly had opportunities to add more than two scores. The Terps also managed 10 second-half shots to Bucknell’s three. 

“Some of the key moments in the game, we didn’t execute in the way that we typically would,” Cirovski said. “But there’s a lot of positives from this game.”