In a battle between No. 4 Maryland men’s soccer and No. 9 High Point, both teams were vying to find a crucial goal. 

The Terps found it late Saturday night.

Rodirgo Neri’s scored in the 81st minute, breaking the tie en route to giving the Terps a 1-0 victory.

Both teams came into tonight’s match with 2-0 records, with tonight giving each an early opportunity to earn a statement win. But for the majority of the match, neither team was willing to surrender

The Terps provided pressure early, outshooting the Panthers 7-2 in the first half. It continued in the second half, including a sequence in the 60th minute that saw the Terps take four shots. 

The Panthers also had a near goal in the 73rd minute. In what seemed to come from nothing, midfielder Anthony Ramirez got a shot on target that was saved by goalkeeper Laurin Mack. 

That same sequence saw a Panther collide with Mack. He was down for a brief moment, but was back on his feet. The junior goalkeeper notched his first shutout of the season with six saves. 

The backline was without key players Lilian Fichelle and Jace Clark, leaving the Terps without two key defenders. Despite that, the defense did a nice job of limiting the Panthers to 11 shots. Through their first two games, the Panthers have averaged 13 shots per game.

Quote from coach: “It’s the first time we’ve been able to keep a semblance of our backline for 90 minutes, said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “Being able to keep the group together where they can learn and grow throughout the game was very important.”

Freshman phenom Said El Eyssami was also absent. He appeared to be injured in Monday’s game against New Haven. With the team’s leading goal scorer out, Rodrigo Neri led the way with 6 shots. So many chances were missed by that much that it seemed that it was only a matter of time that a goal would eventually come to fruition. 

That came with less than 10 minutes in the match: 

“It was pure happiness, Neri said after his first goal of the season. “A lot of hard work the whole preseason, the whole start of the season, and this game was amazing so it was great to get that goal.” 

Mack also came up big late. He made two crucial saves after Neri’s goal to keep the Panthers goalless. 

“Today we saw him really rise to the occasion,” said Cirovski. “He made some incredible saves, showed his courage… that’s what we need from him.”

With students largely back on campus, it was a full house tonight. The student section, famously known as The Crew, saw a match that provided plenty of chances to erupt, but only groans ended up being the result. 

In the end, they were finally able to celebrate a Maryland win that was well earned. 

“This is the best home crowd someone can ask for,” Neri said. 

The Terps move to 3-0 on the young season and Neri’s game-winning goal was exactly what Cirovski and Co. needed to secure their first ranked win of the season.