No. 23 Maryland men’s soccer continued Big Ten play Friday night at home against the Northwestern Wildcats. Due to sophomore Stephan Njike’s red card against Penn State, head coach Sasho Cirovski had to switch up his formation, and senior Joseph Umberto Picotto earned the starting spot in place of Njike. 

Instead of his traditional 4-3-3 formation, Cirovski had the Terps in a 4-4-2 set.   

Njike currently leads the team in goals, and he has been their go-to guy in close situations, so this was a significant loss for the Terps. 

“We’ve talked about depth all year long. We simply moved Albi out to that spot as Joseph is coming back into fitness and form,” Cirovski said. “You can see Albi got a goal and assist from that position, so that was good to see.” 

Maryland entered Friday night’s game with a significant advantage in two statistical categories: a goal differential of plus 14 and the NCAA lead in assists per game with 4.17.

After a 2-2 showdown against Penn State on Tuesday, it had a plethora of first-half opportunities. Two goals, separated by just 84 seconds, led the Terps to a 4-1 victory.

Sadam Masereka was taken down by Nigel Prince, forcing a penalty kick. Junior Leon Koehl capitalized on the opportunity, sticking a shot in the bottom left corner and putting the Terps on the board first. 

About two minutes later, senior Albi Ndrenika netted his first goal of the season, assisted by Luca Costabile. It was a beautiful grounder from just inside the box, giving the Terps a comfortable two-goal lead. 

Just as the Terps found their pace, the Wildcats spoiled their two-goal lead before half. Junior Peter Riesz scored off a volley, assisted by sophomores Italo Addimandi and Omar Jallow. 

The Terps bested the Wildcats but struggled with the corner kicks — Northwestern doubled Maryland in corner kicks, eight to four.

In the 64th minute, senior Sadam Masereka scored a well-executed bicycle kick from just outside the goal. Junior Luke van Heukelum originally headered it into Wildcats goalkeeper Josue Hangi, but Masereka was there to bury his third goal of the season — the goal can potentially be in contention for goal of the season as it ricocheted off of van Heukelum’s head, onto Hangi’s chest, back into the air and with little to no room, Masereka was able to position himself in the air to score.

With 13 minutes remaining, Northwestern scored an own goal off a set-piece corner kick originally taken by Luca Costabile. This gave the Terps a 4-1 lead, and would be enough to secure their second conference win. 

Cirovski described senior Lasse Kelp as a “warrior.” Kelp explained, “It’s my passion for the game, that’s what I enjoy the most, and I hope we get to carry it onto everyone.”

With the win, the Terps remain undefeated and improve to 6-0-2. Their next match is on Friday, Oct. 3, at UCLA.