No. 23 Maryland men’s soccer remained undefeated, but it didn’t come easy on Tuesday night. 

The Terps drew Penn State, 2-2, after senior defender Lasse Kelp scored the equalizer on a free kick in the 85th minute. 

“Lasse’s a warrior. I think he felt badly that he was partially at fault for allowing their second goal, and he certainly was in the box to create the opportunity for a free kick,”  head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We’ve seen him do this before in training, and there is no one else we want on the ball at that point.”

Maryland’s hope of keeping its undefeated record seemed dead. After just being ranked in the top-25, Maryland looked on track to suffer a detrimental loss.

Kelp’s first goal for the Terps came at a crucial point in the game. The Terps were down a man and trailing at the time. 

“He hit it wonderfully,” Cirovski said. “Thankfully, we had a chance to chat about it on the sideline because there was a stoppage in play. Lasse is a leader, a warrior, and was a big part of our comeback.” 

Just a minute earlier, Penn State’s Christian Dionne had given the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead. 

Maryland hadn’t beaten Penn State on the road in eight years, but most games between the Big Ten foes have been close. The Terps have four one-goal losses and three draws in the last seven meetings. 

The Terps struck early in the 36th minute when freshman defender Farouk Cisse scored his first career goal. Cisse buried a low shot after Penn State goalkeeper Jonathan Evans failed to clear a corner kick. This gave the Terps a one-goal lead heading into halftime. 

Penn State came out strong in the second half, tying the game in the 51st minute. Terps midfielder Chris Steinleiter lost the ball deep in his own box, and Ben Madore of the Nittany Lions scored the equalizer. 

In the 73rd minute, Stephane Njike of the Terps was shown a red card for kneeing a Penn State player off the ball. Down a man, Maryland’s defense struggled, and Dionne’s strike in the 85th minute looked like it would be the game-winner. 

However, Kelp stepped up, drilling a free kick past Evans. Kelp also almost won the game in the final seconds with another dangerous set piece, but Evans came up with the save. 

“I have very mixed feelings with today’s match. Very proud of the team to come back and get a tie and really push for the win. Really gritty performance by our guys late in the game,” Cirovski said. “But it was a game I felt we gifted away. We made a couple of crucial mistakes on both goals, tried to overplay, and that’s something we have to correct. But overall, very bittersweet feelings for tonight.”