The Terps spent most of the first half in their attacking zone, but had nothing to show for it. That all changed in the 38th minute.
Senior forward, Stefan Copetti, received a pass from the recently subbed in Colin Griffith. Griffith got the ball to Copetti on the run and he took it to the right part of the box. With the defense at his back, Copetti shot left, whizzing the ball past Bowling Green keeper Brendan Graves. The Ludwig Field crowd that included the forward’s family erupted on Senior Night.
“A lot of emotions, you know,” said Copetti. “My time here at Maryland [is] coming to an end pretty soon and just being able to score in front of them, you know, they’ve done so much for me to get me to this point, made a ton of sacrifices and I’m just so proud and happy that I was able to score in front of them.”
Copetti’s second goal of the season was the first time that Maryland had scored first in a game since its win against UNC Greensboro in August. The lone goal helped the Terps beat Bowling Green, 1-0, at Ludwig Field Saturday night, ending the Terps’ seven-match winless streak.
“It feels great to finally get a win,” said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “We never lost belief in our guys or the way we do things. We challenged our guys to pay a little more attention to the details, and I thought they played with a great resolve, great humility, and a great effort.”
Five Maryland players were honored with a pregame ceremony for Senior Night. One of the five, goalkeeper Jamie Lowell, received an early test by the Bowling Green offense.
Falcon forward Eli Shope broke away from the Maryland defense with only one Terp standing between him and the net, Lowell. Shope fired a shot as Lowell came up to meet him. Lowell jumped in front of the shot, kicking it away and saving Maryland from an early deficit.
“He came out, tried to make myself big and he put it at me, so I have to make the stop,” said Lowell.
The Falcon offense continued to pressure the keeper in the second half firing two shots within a six minute interval. Lowell’s first save of the half came on a shot by Bowling Green senior defenseman Kyle Cusimano that was caught in the middle of the goal.
Bowling Green midfielder Kyle Blasingame took on a similar fate as he tried to squeeze a header past the Maryland keeper. Lowell caught the ball toward the right post ending the Falcon attack.
Lowell’s three saves tied a season high that he set in the first game of the year against another Missouri Valley Conference foe, Missouri State. Lowell and the defense produced their third shutout of the season and first since September 1 against Wake Forest.
The win brings Maryland’s record to 2-6-2 on the season. The Terps face one more non-conference opponent, Villanova, on Tuesday, before restarting conference play with a matchup against Michigan State on October 15.
