By: Wesley Schnell
SEATTLE, WA — No. 9 Maryland men’s soccer continued its unbeaten start in conference play on Friday night, narrowly beating Washington, 3-2, thanks to late game heroics from Colin Griffith.
The two sides faced opposite fortunes entering play.
The Terps (7-1-4, 5-0-1) grabbed first place in the Big Ten after a 2-1 comeback victory over Michigan State, in their previous game. The Huskies (4-4-5, 1-3-3) lost to No. 4 Ohio State in their most recent contest, and sat in the middle of the Big Ten pack.
There was action on both sides to start the match.
Washington tallied its first shot on goal in the fourth minute but Maryland goalkeeper Laurin Mack denied the attempt with an early save. Just moments later, Max Rogers dragged wide of the right post on the Terps’ first chance of the game.
The Huskies’ offense broke through in the 12th minute, as the senior defensive midfielder Chris Meyers pushed forward, received the ball, and sent it into the top right. Meyers’ unsavable shot broke the scoreless tie and put Maryland in an early hole — but not for long.
Just a few minutes later, Luca Costabile lofted a pass to Rogers, who collected the ball at the top of the box. The forward then rolled a defense-splitting shot into the bottom right corner.
Despite conceding the 16th minute equalizer, the Huskies stayed on the front foot. Washington took the games, but none were overly threatening for the Terps.
Each side traded 32nd minute shots. The pair of attempts required saves from both goalkeepers.
Leon Kohel sent a low shot into the bottom right corner, which was denied by Washington keeper Jadon Bowton. A minute later, Huskies midfielder Peter Kingston fired a shot just under the crossbar, drawing a save from Mack.
The relatively even first half slightly favored the Huskies, but ultimately ended with the two teams level at one goal a piece.
Washington once again got off on the front foot to open the second half, regaining the lead in the 50th minute with a goal from midfielder Cooper Brunell.
This time, Maryland’s response was even quicker.
The Terps were awarded a penalty kick just over 60 seconds later. Midfielder Leon Koehl faked out Bowton, forcing the keeper to dive early. Koehl calmly rolled his spot-kick to the opposite side, to pull Maryland level.
The goal was Koehl’s fifth of the season, all of which have come from the penalty spot.
Maryland’s defense shutdown the home side for the rest of the game. This included a blocked shot from multiple defenders in the 58th minute, and a save from Mack soon after.
Jadon Bowton made two imperative stops of his own, blocking shots from Griffith and Albi Ndrenika. But he wasn’t perfect.
Max Rodgers started a Maryland counterattack in the 74th minute. He dribbled down the right sideline, before cutting slightly inside and crossing the ball to the near post.
Griffith had made a clever run forward as Rogers was dribbling. The junior met Rogers pass with a glancing header that floated into the back of the net, giving the Terps their first lead of the match at 3-2.
The late goal was Griffith’s fourth in as many games, and his sixth of the campaign.
Following the go-ahead goal, Mack and the Maryland defense came up big with 2 saves and 2 blocked shots. A chaotic end saw the Terps clear a last-gasp cross from Washington, to hang on to their 3-2 win.
The Terps will take the long trip back to College Park to get ready for their next matchup on Tuesday — a non conference contest against No. 13 George Mason.
