By Wesley Schnell
COLLEGE PARK, MD — No. 9 Maryland men’s soccer returned home for a one game break from Big Ten play as they hosted No.13 George Mason. The Terps continued to stay red winning their third straight game with a 2-0 victory over the Patriots.
“I am delighted with the result tonight,” said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “I feel very good about the way our guys showed character, grit, and toughness.”
Maryland (8-1-4, 5-0-1 Big Ten) entered the game following a big 3-2 road win over Washington that kept its unbeaten streak alive in conference play. George Mason (10-3-0, 4-1-0 A-10) came into the match second in the Atlantic 10 after falling 2-1 at home against Duquesne — who sit atop the Atlantic 10.
The Terps started the game on the defensive end. Maryland blocked two shots and had one Patriot shot go just wide of the net in the first seven minutes.
In the 8th minute, the Terps had a successful clear and were able to push the ball down the field when midfielder Ablie Ndrenika ripped the first Maryland shot that was saved by Patriot keeper Jaume Salvado.
Maryland generated another offensive opportunity in the 16th minute, but was stopped by a tackle from George Mason midfielder Henry Wachsman. Wachsman was given the game’s first yellow card on the play.
After both teams traded possessions that ended in blocked shots, the Terps cashed in.
In the 29th minute, the Terps had a two-man counter attack with Sadam Masereka and Chris Steinleitner. Steinleitner dribbled the ball up the right side of the field and found Masereka on the left side. Masereka let one rip into the bottom right corner scoring his second goal of the season and providing Maryland a 1-0 lead.
A couple minutes after the goal, George Mason generated a counter attack that was stopped with a tackle from Maryland defender Jace Clark. Clark was given Maryland’s first yellow card of the game as a result of the tackle.
It was an impressive defensive half for the Terps as they blocked all four Patriot shot attempts which led to zero shots on goal for George Mason in the first half.
Maryland came out attacking in the second half with two shot attempts — one that missed wide of the net and the other blocked by the Patriot defense.
In the 59th minute, George Mason was pushing forward on the right side of the field when they crossed it into the box and a Patriot attacker collided with Maryland keeper Laurin Mack in the air. Mack went down for a minute but was able to get up under his own power and stay in the game.
In the 65th minute, a sequence of shift moves inside the box by Luca Costabile tied up the Patriot defenders causing what seemed to be a penalty against George Mason. After review, the Terps were awarded the spot kick.
Leon Koehl took the kick for the Terps and found the back of the net once again. Koehl’s score brought him to six-for-six from the spot this season.
“I’m just confident in taking them,” Koehl said. “I had an idea. I went down the middle my last one. And also the keeper was like, Yeah, I think you’re gonna go down the middle.”
The sophomore gave the Terps a commanding 2-0 lead with his sixth goal of the season. Koehl is the first Terp to be at least six-for-six from the spot since 2013, when Patrick Mullins went nine-for-nine.
Maryland almost extended their lead in the 67th minute after a corner kick by Max Rodgers that was deflected towards the net by Malyland defender William Kulvik, but Salvado came up big for the Patriots with the save.
George Mason had a great opportunity on a shot taken inside the box by Patriot midfielder Quentin Clain, but Mack came up big for the Terps with another save.
In the 79th minute, Costabile picked up Maryland’s second yellow card of the game that set up George Mason with a free kick just outside the box. The free kick was sent towards the net but just missed high over the crossbar.
On the goal kick from the Patriots’ free kick, Maryland set up a counterattack that resulted in a shot by Masereka that was saved by Salvado.
Mack picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season as the Terps stayed in command and took the 2-0 victory. Their unbeaten streak is now at 11 games.
The Terps will be back at Ludwig field on Monday as Big Ten play resumes. Maryland will take on a new conference foe — the UCLA Bruins — in College Park.
“We’ll make another classic here. We’ll be ready for a terrific match. We have great respect for UCLA,” Cirovski said.
