By Zack Lessner
Following a disappointing 1-0 loss to Louisville in their opener on Friday, the Terps did not disappoint the crowd of over 5,000 fans in their home opener at Ludwig Field Monday.
The Terps took their first game of the year by a score of 3-2, beating the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in a slugfest that kept the Crew rowdy for the entire game.
“It was a great win against a national contender,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “It certainly looks like they’re poised to make another deep run in the tournament, and I’m proud of our team tonight.”
Senior midfielder Dan Metzger opened up the scoring in the eighth minute when he hammered home a header sent from Mael Corboz for the Terps’ first goal of the season.
“It was all in the cross actually,” Metzger humbly said. “It was a great ball from a set piece and I happened to be in the right spot.”
The Terps carried that one goal lead for more than 50 minutes until finally succumbing to a free kick headed in by Bryce Follensbee in the 59th minute, knotting the score at one.
However, only three minutes went by until Maryland took back the lead, this time coming from a 30-yard strike from sophomore Michael Sauers.
“It was a humbling goal,” Sauers said. “We lacked for a good 10 to 15 minutes and then when we got the go-ahead goal it gave us some more confidence.
The Terps weren’t done scoring either, as Mikias Eticha deflected in a ball from 18 yards out to make the score 3-1 in the 73rd minute.
After a score from Coastal in the 80th minute, the Terps defense stepped up phenomenally, hanging onto the 3-2 lead until the final whistle blew.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen recorded 3 saves, including a great diving block in the final minutes to crush the Chanticleers’ comeback hopes.
One of the other big storylines was the return of the Crew, who came out in full force Monday night.
“It’s so humbling to see the support we have,” Cirovski said. “The student body came out tonight and it was a pleasure to see them again.”
Cirovski will get to see his fans again on Friday as Maryland hosts rival UMBC on Friday at Ludwig Field at 7:30.
