By Aaron Megar
The No.3 Terrapins played a close game on the road Sunday, escaping unranked Rutgers off of a Matt Rambo game-winner, ending the tilt at 9-8. Against his older brother, senior midfielder Rich Rambo, the sophomore attackman netted three goals and a career high of three assists, leading Maryland to victory in one of their weakest outings this season.
Sunday’s game was the second straight single goal win for the Terps, though Wednesday’s opponent, Loyola – the No.19 team in the nation – was a much stronger competitor than the 4-9 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rambo’s goal came with 13-seconds left in the game, and the Terps tallied their third Big Ten win since joining the conference.
After losing in face-offs to Loyola on Wednesday, Maryland struggled without senior specialist Charlie Raffa, who was injured against Penn State on April 4. After beating their opponents in face-offs for six straight games, Raffa’s injury immediately ended that streak. The injury is, according to the Diamondback, undisclosed, and it will be interesting to see when he will return and how long the team can survive without their top face-off man.
The Terps scored the game’s first goal and only one of the opening quarter when Dylan Maltz put one in with 4:43 on the clock. Rutgers, however, responded with three straight goals in the second quarter. With nine minutes left in the third quarter, Maryland found themselves down 6-3 after a Rutgers goal, and they responded two and a half minutes later with a Jay Carlson score that was followed by four more goals, two coming from Rambo.
Though Rutgers was able to tie the game back up with a pair of goals in the fourth quarter, Rambo’s third goal kept the game out of overtime. All six of Rambo’s points came in the 2nd half, and he once again played his role as the team’s star.
This was, however, a tough game for the Terrapins. They lost to Rutgers in not only face-offs, but also shots, ground balls, and turnovers. Their nine goals was the least that they’ve scored since losing to Yale in February. The Terrapins are facing 11th-ranked Ohio State on Saturday, and it will take a lot more to beat the second best team in the Big Ten than it took to beat the second worst team in the Big Ten by one goal.
