By Wesley Schnell
COLLEGE PARK, MD — No. 12 Maryland men’s soccer hosted Penn State at Ludwig Field on Tuesday night, in its first home match since mid-September. The result wasn’t flawless, but the Terps continued their unbeaten start to Big Ten play, following a 1-1 draw with the Nittany Lions.
“I feel empty leaving this game, but we also played two away games over the past two weeks, and we played a team that was fresh, that hadn’t played since last Tuesday,” said head coach Sasho Cirovski.
The Terps (5-1-4, 3-0-1) came off their third straight conference win – a 2-1 victory over Northwestern. The Nittany Lions (4-5-1, 1-2-1) beat St. John’s in their previous game by the same scoreline.
Maryland started on the front foot, with the game’s first scoring opportunity.
In the 8th minute, midfielder Albi Ndrenika sent the ball towards the net from outside the box. After an awkward bounce, Nittany Lions’ keeper Andrew Cooke stopped the ball in its tracks, preventing the early goal.
Penn State’s first corner kick of the match came in the 14th minute, immediately followed by its first shot of the game – which missed left of the net.
In the 22nd minute, crafty dribbling by Luca Costabile opened up space. Costabile fired a pass to Collin Griffith at the top of the box, who sent a shot towards the net that reverberated off the left post.
Penn State had a prime scoring chance in the 36th minute. Graduate midfielder Michael Hewes dribbled the ball down towards the endline – where he met the hands of Maryland keeper Laurin Mack, who proceeded to spoil yet another would-be goal.
Maryland saw two great scoring chances just minutes before halftime, but both were stopped by Penn State’s sound defense.
First, freshman forward Jameson Michel sent a shot to the lower left corner of the net that was saved by Cook. Then, Aidan Shepella picked up the rebound and sent in a shot of his own that was blocked by a Nittany Lions defender.
The first half ended scoreless, with Maryland dominating the shot battle, 9-3.
Maryland’s offensive attack earned its squad two quick corner kicks to begin the second half. Both were sent in by midfielder Max Rodgers, but were followed up with shot attempts that sailed off target.
In the 52nd minute, Penn State’s Michael Hewes broke free at the top of the box, setting up a one-on-one with Mack. The Maryland shot stopper rushed out of goal, saving Hewes’ shot onto the right post.
Maryland broke through in the 56th minute on a slick goal by forward Colin Grifith.
Off of a long pass from Aidan Sheppela, Griffith dribbled into the box, where he looked to beat defenders with a few stepovers. He couldn’t get past the Nittany Lions in front of him, but shifted the ball onto his right foot, before curling a shot into the bottom right corner.
The goal was Griffith’s fourth of the season, and gave Maryland a 1-0 lead.
“I think I’m just taking more quality shots,” Griffith said. “Focusing a little more when I’m shooting. I wasn’t really striking the ball with enough quality but now I’m striking out a little better.”
But the Terps’ narrow advantage was short-lived. Midfielder Caden Grabfelder equalized for Penn State with a free kick goal in the 62nd minute.
Maryland nearly regained the lead on a Max Rogers header just two minutes later. His attempt glanced past the right post as it bounced wide of the net.
The Terps and Nittany Lions traded off-target shots in the 78th and 87th minutes respectively, before the home side won the games last chance in the final minute.
A Penn State yellow card with just 19 seconds left, set the Terps up with an enticing free kick outside the box. Max Rogers sent it towards the goal, where Jace Clark powered a header goalward. But in one motion, Cooke came up with the impressive save to close out a 1-1 draw.
Maryland had the stronger attack despite the even result. The Terps out shot Penn State 20-7 and led the corner battle 8-1, but they ultimately couldn’t find a late breakthrough.
Maryland continues its homestand against Michigan State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“We’ll take the point, we’ll get better, and we’ll get ready for Saturday,” Cirovski said.
