In the eighth minute, Maryland was given a golden opportunity as Michigan goalkeeper Owen Finnerty was sent off the pitch with a red card and the Terps capitalized on being a man up on the pitch.

“We benefited from the Michigan red card,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “But credit Michigan with a tremendous effort until the last minute.”

The victory also marked Cirovski’s 400th career win at Maryland as he became just the sixth Division I men’s soccer coach to win 400 games at one school. 

Maryland jumped to a commanding start offensively. In the 5th minute, the Terps were awarded a penalty kick. Freshman midfielder Joe Suchecki attempted the penalty kick, which Finnerty denied, the second missed penalty kick for the Terps this season.

In the 15th minute, redshirt senior forward Mike Heitzmann took a pass from midfielder/ defender redshirt sophomore Nick Richardson and put it back of the net giving the Terps a 1-0 lead. 

However, Michigan’s best chance to equalize came in the next minute when Harrison Pithers struck towards the Maryland net, but sophomore goalkeeper Niklas Neumann was up to the task. The ball sailed over the net to give Michigan a corner kick. Maryland would quickly clear the ball from the Maryland box. 

At the half Maryland led 1-0, surrendering just two shots on goal in the first half en route to its first lead after 45 minutes this season. 

Maryland used its first half momentum and came out strong to start the second half. Freshman forward Jacen Russell-Rowe had two early chances in the 46th and 49th minutes. The attempt in the 46th minute was denied by Ethan Wood, while the attempt in the 49th minute sailed over the Wolverine net. 

The Terps continued to push the remainder of the second half. In the 71st minute, Richardson found redshirt senior Paul Bin, who then put the ball in the back of the net. That goal marked Bin’s first of the season and his first since October 2018. Richardson picked up his second assist of the match on the goal.

“Nick Richardson had two fantastic services from right back, his natural position,” Cirovski said. 

In the latter stages of the match the Terps held a 2-0 lead. However, Michigan responded in the 73rd minute when Jackson Ragen scored off a corner kick, cutting the deficit to 2-1 setting up the final 16 nail biting minutes of the match. 

“Our guys are starting to feel their connectivity and it is showing in our play on both sides of the ball,” Cirovski said. “I am ecstatic with the result against a good Michigan team. To see our seniors in Mike [Heitzmann] and Paul [Bin] score was a reward for their effort throughout the match.”

Maryland plays their next match on March 19th at Ludwig Field against Michigan State (1-3-0).