As the clock ticked past the 80th minute, No. 2 Maryland men’s soccer found itself in a spot nobody saw them in pregame: tied at three with ten minutes to go.
With a draw that would hurt Maryland’s ranking looming on the horizon, the Terps needed a hero.
The hero — as it has been so many times this season — was a true freshman.
Dennis Kalanzi scored his career goal on a weird ricochet that pushed the Terps past Delaware, 4-3, keeping the freshman hero story alive.
In three games this season, the winning goal for the Terps has been scored by a true freshman, including two within the last ten minutes in the last two games.
“We’ve had a few guys step up in different places,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said after the game. “So that’s been the positive part is that we’ve been able to get some goal production from various different players, including some of our young players.”
The game started hot offensively for the Terps with a goal in the sixth minute, as Albi Ndrenika slammed a shot into the top left off a pass from Henry Bernstein. Franklin Affanyi was also credited with the assist.
When it rains, it pours for the Terps, as just three minutes later, in the ninth minute, Rocket Ritarita took a shot from outside the area, which was parried by the Blue Hens goalkeeper before being tapped back in by Rodrigo Neri for the Terps’ second goal in the first 10 minutes. This sent The Crew into a frenzy, who came out with a solid crowd tonight, chanting all game long.
The attack stayed hot for the Terps as the game moved forward, with shots coming consistently throughout the first half. But the Terps’ dominance would be short-lived, as in the 20th minute of play, Rich Monath received a through ball over the top by German Argueta and was able to tap it to a wide-open Marius Stenner to cut the Terps’ lead in half.
The Terps wouldn’t be held back for long, however, as a mistake by a Delaware defender gave Farouk Cisse the ball just outside of the box, where he slid it to CSUN transfer midfielder Zach Harris, who took it around the Delaware defender and smashed it past the keeper to reestablish Maryland’s two-goal advantage.
Delaware would break through again soon after that, though, as another ball over the top found Delaware’s Mason Booz, who slotted it away to bring the Blue Hens back within a goal.
Delaware kept attacking throughout the rest of the second half, looking for a tying goal, which they found late. In the 80th minute, Rich Monath slid a ball into the box for Frederik Flaskager, who tapped it in to level the match for Delaware.
Just two minutes after the leveler from the Blue Hens, Kalanzi scored his first career goal for the Terps, making his presence known for Maryland as a super sub. The goal sent The Crew into pandemonium, and the Maryland team crowded around Kalanzi at the corner flag.
The Terps were able to hold strong and fend off some last-minute attacks from the Blue Hens to hold on for a 4-3 win, improving to 4-0-0 on the season.
The heavy use of substitutes was another common thread in today’s match, as Sasho Cirovski used nine subs across the course of the contest. Squad rotation is clearly important, as they play again in just two days when they host No. 5 Georgetown.
Statistically, the Terps were the better team in this one. They had 16 shots to Delaware’s seven, and had 11 of those shots be on goal. Fifth-year keeper Eric Widrick had seven saves for Delaware, doing well to control the Terps’ attacking onslaught.
While it was not the prettiest of wins, the Terps still began the season 4-0-0 for the first time since 2021.
Maryland will be back in action in just two days when the Terps host Georgetown at Ludwig Field on Monday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WMUC Sports.
