German Giammatei collected a deep ball down the pitch from Alex Nitzl following a takeaway, who then scoped out Justin Harris flying into the action only four minutes after subbing on for the Terps.
Harris took advantage of his scoring opportunity just outside the six-yard box, striking it past Virginia goalkeeper Holden Brown for a commanding 2-0 lead in what ended up being a much-needed bounce-back victory for Sasho Cirovski and Maryland soccer.
In one of the most storied rivalries in College Soccer, No. 9 Maryland throttled Virginia in a 6-1 blowout.
With Joshua Bolma and Stefan Copetti out of the starting lineup due to injury, the Terps needed answers offensively after a lackluster performance against Denver on Friday night, resulting in a 2-0 loss.
Maryland responded to Virginia’s early fouls with chances, as veteran Hunter George made a phenomenal run down the field, finding Colin Griffith behind the Virginia back line, creating a penalty in his first start for Maryland.
Malcolm Johnston went to the penalty spot and blasted his strike into the bottom right corner, sending Brown the wrong way to get the scoring started for the Terps.
With Virginia trying to creep back in, Justin Harris’ goal in the 42nd minute gave the Terps a comfortable lead going into half, but Virginia would keep fighting following the break.
Just nine minutes into the half, the Cavaliers were awarded a penalty and put the ball on star forward Leo Afonso’s feet, who had hopes of putting his side within one.
Niklas Neumann had other plans as he saved Afonso’s attempt to the bottom right corner, keeping the Terps’ lead at two.
Just minutes later, Virginia found another golden chance for Afonso, who couldn’t capitalize with Neumann out of the net. Maryland midfielder Joe Suchecki deflected the Afonso shot away, leaving Virginia with another missed chance.
Soon after, Joshua Bolma checked in for Maryland and six minutes later, gave Chris Rindov an opportunity in the box off of a cross, who headed it in with purpose, putting the Terps up 3-0.
Again, just five minutes later, Bolma flew down the wing and set up Griffin Dillon on the opposite side of the box, who slotted the ball with class, giving the Terps another.
The action continued for Maryland, with Joshua Bolma getting on the scoresheet again, this time with a goal to give Bolma three points in just 17 minutes of game action, extending the Terps’ lead to 5-0.
“We needed this one, and we all knew what we had to do, and everyone was bought in,” Bolma said. “It’s great; It’s really great.”
Virginia added one late off a strike from Daniel Mangarov, but Maryland didn’t wait long to get the lead back to five, with German Giammattei scoring from inside the box just two minutes later; his first goal in the red, black, and yellow.
The Terps’ responded to the Denver loss on Friday night with a win in dominating fashion, beating Virginia by a score of 6-1.
“I’m really proud of the team’s performance tonight. It was an inspired response to a disappointing performance on Friday,” Cirovski said.
The much-needed victory gives Maryland momentum going into its match with another local rival in Georgetown.
