On a gray, damp Tuesday evening at Ludwig Field, No. 12 Maryland men’s soccer met Penn State, looking for a fourth straight win to open Big Ten play.
Instead, the Terps found a gray, damp result: a 1-1 tie in which they greatly outshot and out possessed Penn State. The result moves them to 3-0-1 in the Big Ten and 5-1-4 overall.
“I feel empty leaving this game,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said, “but we also played two away games over the last two weeks and we played a team that was fresh.”
Cirovski’s team has been starting its games methodically as of late, searching for gaps in their opponent’s back line. Against the Nittany Lions, though, Maryland found none early, failing to generate a real chance through the game’s first 20 minutes.
Its defense, which has allowed just a single goal in conference play, afforded it plenty of time to look, denying Penn State the opportunity to threaten Laurin Mack in net for the majority of the half.
With 25 minutes left in the half, Luca Costabile played the ball to their newfound danger man, Colin Griffith. Griffith unleashed a textbook strike low and hard past a diving Andrew Cooke in Penn State’s goal, only to have the ball ricochet off the post.
The Nittany Lions eventually broke through for a first-half chance of their own off a give-and-go to Michael Hewes, who let a shot loose from the right side of Maryland’s penalty box, forcing Mack into an impressive stop at his near post.
The Terps garnered one more opportunity late in the half, when freshman Jameson Michel had a good shot at the back post, but it was saved by Cooke.
The opening half felt like Maryland’s fastest of the season, with the clock stopping just once for less than 30 seconds.
Hewes was responsible for what was by far Penn State’s best chance of the first half, and within 10 minutes of the second half, he had another that made Maryland fans’ hearts skip a beat. He broke free behind the back line to get one-on-one with Mack, who kicked his shot on to the near post to keep the game scoreless.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, the seal finally broke. Aidan Sheppela picked up the ball on the right flank and executed a perfect switch to Griffith on the left. Griffith carried the ball into the box, executed two quick step-overs to create separation and curled the ball around a defender into the right corner.
“[Early in the year], I was getting the ball in good spaces, but I wasn’t really striking the ball with enough quality,” Griffith said. “Now, I’m striking it a little better and the goals are coming.”
It appeared as though Maryland needed just the one goal to win. But its lead lasted just over five minutes.
The referee whistled a free kick for Penn State about 25 yards away from Maryland’s goal. All Big-Ten midfielder Chris Grabfelder stood over the ball and showed his class, unleashing a beautiful shot that beat Mack to his near post.
The Terps were left with just under 30 minutes to hunt for a late winner. They applied consistent pressure in Penn State’s final third and forced multiple late saves from Cooke, but could not find a winner.
Ultimately, Maryland’s win streak came to a halt at three.
Three things to know
1. Glimpse of the future? Sheppela, a freshman forward, came off Maryland’s bench late in the first half and had his best performance of the season by a wide margin. Late in the first half, he sent a beautiful ball to fellow first-year Michel at the back post, which almost created the opening goal. Following Sheppela’s first-half performance, Cirovski started him in the second half over Sadam Masereka, and Sheppela rewarded his coach with an impressive assist.
“I challenged Aidan to be a bit more agressive, to want the ball more and to use his set of skills,” Cirovski said. “I thought he did that today.”
2. Bizarre refereeing situation. As Maryland searched for a late winner, Costabile rifled a ball into the 6-yard box, looking for Matias De Jesus. As De Jesus tried to put a head on it, he seemed to catch a cleat in the head from a Penn State defender. The referee made no call on the field — frustrating Maryland’s players — but also elected not to check video replay.
“He said he saw it in front of his eyes and he felt like it wasn’t the right call [to not use the video replay] …” captain Alex Nitzl said, “… honestly, the way we’re doing VAR (Video Assisted Replay) feels like it changes every game.”
3. Maryland dominated possession. Match stats had Maryland’s possession at 64%, and it certainly felt like it, but it could not come away with a win.
