Maryland men’s soccer came into this year’s Big Ten Tournament seeking its first tournament title since 2016. The Terps are one step closer to that goal after Sunday’s win over Michigan State in Bloomington, Indiana.
Riding a wave that has seen them win four of their last matchups, including three via a clean sheet, the Terps continued that momentum by defeating the Spartans 2-1.
Defense was the story to begin Sunday’s match, with both sides not allowing any good scoring opportunities. When a chance did present itself, both defenses shut it down quickly.
There were no shots on goal in the first 20 minutes, and the first corner didn’t come until the 24th minute, when Michigan State took three consecutive corners that finally led to the game’s first on-target attempt – a Richie Ludwig shot that Laurin Mack saved.
Maryland’s first shot on goal did not come until Albi Ndrenika gave the Terps a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute. He has scored 2 goals in his last two matches and 3 goals in his last four. Today’s goal came at the top of the penalty box after receiving a nice touch pass from Marco Wright.
Tensions rose after Ndrenika’s goal, as post-play antics led to a full-on shoving match between the two teams.
At the boiling point, Michigan State’s Brandon Munson took down Zack Harris, prompting Harris to grab Munson, then Munson to shove Harris in the face. Refs showed Munson a red card, forcing Michigan State to play down a man.
According to the Big Ten Plus’s broadcast, Ndrenika had some words for Michigan State during warmups, which may have been a factor in the heated environment.
Ndrenika’s day was not done either. In the 51st minute, and with the Terps now playing with the man advantage, the captain delivered a beautiful cross on a free kick into the box to a perfectly placed Wright, who doubled the Terps’ lead. He too was a key performer in today’s win.
“Another example of one of our reserves coming in and having a great impact,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “Marco was absolutely terrific today.”
After not having an assist or a goal to his name in 14 appearances, Wright had one of each.
“I think we were just hungry today,” Ndrenika told Big Ten Network Plus, “I think we came out the gates flying… everyone was bought in today, so it made everyone’s job easier.”
A brief scare did come towards the end of the game, when Michigan State’s Mohamed Saad cut the lead in half in the 88th minute, but the Terps held on.
This was a revenge game for Maryland, which fell to Michigan State on Oct. 9, 2-1. Since then, it appears that the two sides have gone in opposite directions, with Maryland now winners of five of its last six, and Michigan State winners of just two of its last seven.
A key feature of this stretch has been the defense, which has struggled for most of the season. Maryland has delivered shutouts in three of its last five victories since the Michigan State match. And although it was not a clean sheet today, Saad’s goal did not come until there were 2 minutes and 9 seconds remaining.
“It was a very good performance, defensively, from the whole team,” Cirovski said, “The backline in particular was outstanding.”
It should also be noted that one of the regulars on the backline, Ljubomir Popovic, was absent after receiving a red card that was given in the regular-season finale against Penn State. Despite that, the Terps did a nice job of holding the Spartans to just 3 shots on goal (MSU averages 6 per game) and limiting leading goal-scorer Andrew Darakdjian to just 1 shot.
The Maryland defense did well to limit Michigan State’s shots. Goalkeeper Laurin Mack only needed two saves to keep the Spartans at bay.
The Terps now face the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the semifinals. The two met earlier this season in a top-five matchup. The Hoosiers won 3-1. But with the way the Terps have been playing, specifically on defense, this edition should be more competitive than the one in early October.
