By Christopher Rogers-Spatuzzi
Wasted offensive opportunities and a shaky defense doomed the No. 20 Terps in a 2-1 loss to Delaware at Ludwig Field Tuesday.
Coming off of a scoreless draw with Indiana Friday, Maryland once again struggled to score early in the game. The Terps pressed Delaware’s defense, but could not convert on any of their nine first half shots. Maryland managed to score with two minutes left in the game, but gave up the decisive goal just a minute later. The loss marked the first in three games for the Terps.
“To tie it up with two minutes to go and give up a goal a little later is completely disheartening, and it’s not the standard of Maryland soccer,” said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “That’s going to be a tough night.”
Maryland had two opportunities late in the first half. With less than ten minutes to play, forward Eryk Williamson had an open look at the goal, but his shot missed just over the top of the crossbar.
The second chance came with less than ten seconds left in the half. Midfielder Mael Corboz’s no-look pass to forward David Kabelik set Kabelik up with a shot right in front of the goal. He missed to the right, and the two teams ended the half scoreless.
Maryland’s defense struggled to stop the Delaware attack. After receiving his fifth yellow card Friday night, captain center back Alex Crognale was forced to sit out Tuesday’s game.
The Blue Hens struck first Tuesday, taking a 1-0 lead in the 57th minute when a corner ended up in the box. Midfielder Ben Sampson got a head on it to knock it past goalkeeper Cody Neidermeier.
The Terps spent the next 30 minutes trying to score, but just like against Indiana, they could not convert on their opportunities inside the box. Looking for a change, Cirovski subbed in forward Emmanuel Korvah in the 77th minute. This paid off: in the 88th minute, Korvah got his head on a Corboz corner and knocked it into the net for his first career goal. Korvah’s header knotted the game at 1-1.
The home crowd went wild after the goal, only to be silenced a minute later.
Delaware’s counterattack took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Terps. On a Blue Hens corner, Maryland failed to the clear the ball from the box, and Delaware defender Thomas de Villardi shot it for a 2-1 lead.
With just over a minute left in the game, the Terps couldn’t muster any sort of comeback, and suffered their fourth loss of the season.
“[We have to] play a full 90 minutes,” Korvah said regarding what the team learned from the loss. “[We] can’t let any play up because, as you can see, that can hurt us.”
After the upset, the Terps look ahead to their next contest at Ludwig Field Friday at 7 p.m. against No. 17 Washington.
“We took a big hit tonight,” Cirovski said. “We’ll have to wake up tomorrow and rebound and get ready for Friday.”
