By Juan Herrera
After a tough scoreless draw against Michigan at home, No. 4 Maryland Terrapins were finally able to find the back of the net against Navy in a 1-0 win. The Terrapins played well in the first half and were able to out shoot Navy 7-1. The Terps were able to continue the pressure throughout the second half, but were unable to find a goal until later in the game.
Maryland’s first big chance at scoring came in the 68th minute when freshman forward DJ Reeves was able to chip the ball past the goalkeeper and nearly scored until Navy defender P.J. Suess cleared it. At that point, the Terps were outshooting the Midshipmen 18-2 and forced Navy’s goalkeeper Jackson Morgan to make four difficult saves.
The Terps were able to breakthrough the Midshipmen’s defense in the 84th minute after a corner kick from midfielder Mael Corboz was able to connect with defender Alex Crognale off a header for a goal.
“It was a perfect ball from Mael and I was just trying to put myself in the best position to get my head on it and I feel like it worked out for me,” Crognale said. “Whether I score or someone else scores i’m just as happy.
Corboz played well throughout the game and was able to create good scoring opportunities for the Terps. Corboz had 4 shots in the game and completed several key passes down the stretch. Players like midfielder Tsubasa Endo and Chris Odoi-Atsem had great games and were active across the pitch. Freshman DJ Reeves was able to make great use of the time he had on the field today. He moved the ball well and was explosive on offense, nearly scoring in the second half.
“I ran past the defender as fast I could and I got a little bit of a touch on it,” Reeves said. “I was running after it to try to rebound it in case I missed, but I give that kid a lot credit for saving it.”
Overall, the Terps looked very organized defensively against Navy and were able to control the tempo of the game. This patience led to better scoring chances for the Terps throughout the game, chances they didn’t really have against Michigan. Despite this improvement, the Terps were still unable to find the back of the net in the first half for the third consecutive game. Despite this issue, Coach Sasho Cirovski was proud of the result that night.
“We put together a complete performance tonight,” coach Cirovski said. “To keep a team like Navy with only a couple of looks and no shots on goal throughout the game is a testament to our efforts defensively as a group.”
The Maryland men’s soccer team will be on the road for the next few games and will go up against Big Ten rivals Michigan State and Wisconsin. The Terps are now (3-1-2) and will face Michigan State (3-2-0) this Friday.
“It’s great to finally get a solid win so we can look forward to something heading going into our next three road games, Reeves explained. “We had two hard games against Akron and Michigan so it’s great to get a good win against a really hard working and tough opponent.”
