The dying September sun reached over the press box and reflected off of the metal banners surrounding the pitch. A determined squad in white emerged from the left side goal, as the 8th ranked Maryland men’s soccer looked to bounce back from a devastating loss to #1 ranked Georgetown last week as the Friday Night Lights also shone on the Michigan Wolverines, Maryland’s first Big Ten opponent of the year.
An action-packed second half led by a strong Maryland side gave the Terps the 2-1 victory, as Michigan was not able to equalize after the Terps’ ten second half shots led to two magnificent goals.
The first few minutes gave the Terps a promising chance, as some good team play and passing led to an impressive Bolma run down the left sideline. The freshman attacker managed to keep the ball inbounds and ride the endline in the box before dishing off to Malcolm Johnston who sailed the ball over the fervent Crew supporters.
Bolma wasn’t done making an impact early, as shown by an early give and go with Jacen Russell Rowe sending Bolma flying through the box. However, he lost control as Michigan goalie Hayden Evans picked the ball cleanly off of Bolma’s boots.
Evan Rasmussen made a name for himself early for the Maize and Blue. The forward got himself in the book early with a hard tackle on Defender William Kulvik. He also showed his physical presence with a header wide of the goal a few minutes later.
Both sides went scoreless for most of the first half, as neither team seemed to fit all the pieces together. The Terps had only one shot on goal, while the Wolverines had none.
Michigan had a free kick in their attacking half in the 39th minute, but only came away with a volley shot wide left of the goal. Maryland had a few touches in the box, but their best chance came from forward Brayan Padilla early in the 43rd.
Padilla took the ball off a deflection and fired it from deep, however the ball corkscrewed wide left, summing up the first half as both teams went into the locker room tied 0-0.
Coming out of the half, Maryland almost capitalized early off of a deep free kick which bobbled around in front of goal but graciously ended up in Hayden Evans’ gloves in the 50th.
At last, the difference maker came from the hosts, with a bit of brilliance by impressive youngster Joshua Bolma in the 55th minute. The freshman was fouled by Uriel Zeitz just outside the box, leading to a free kick.
The spot kick was not originally Bolma’s to take, but he says that he was given the opportunity by Hunter George.
“He was like ‘Josh how do you feel about it man?’” Bolma said. “And I was like ‘If you’re gonna let me take it, I will do that for you.’”
So Bolma stepped up, stared down the goalkeeper, and took it on. The shot managed to get over the wall and dip into the bottom left corner, evading Evans’ reaching arm. This gave Maryland the one goal advantage, and the new Terp his second goal of the season, continuing his impressive start to the year.
The start of the second half got even better for the Terps, and it was a result of a beautiful service. Midfielder Malcolm Johnston made use of the outside of his foot, playing junior Justin Harris at the top of the box. The Maryland native took a second to compose himself, and with no Wolverine closing him down, Harris let it rip on the ground with his right foot, confusing the goalkeeper as the ball flew in.
Head Coach Sacho Cirovski was delighted that Justin Harris got the first goal of his Maryland career after not getting much playing time this season.
“[I] always asked him to be ready for your moment, and tonight he was ready for his moment.” Cirovski said.
The brilliant strike in the 64th gave Harris his first collegiate goal, and gave the Terps a 2-0 lead.
About ten minutes later, just when it looked like all the momentum had shifted, the Wolverines pulled a goal of their own out of their bag of tricks. After some interesting play in the box, midfielder Kevin Buca played a ball on the ground in the box which was up for grabs.
Substitute Derick Broche came up with a sliding shot in front of goal which creeped inside the left post, bringing Michigan a goal back to go 2-1 in the 73rd.
The Terps didn’t stop looking to distance themselves, with near goals coming in the 81st and the 82nd. First midfielder Nick Richardson had only the keeper to beat in the box on the fast break, but Evans came up with an impressive save. The following corner resulted in a header from senior forward Justin Gielen that glanced upon the face of goal before rising into the stands.
Michigan tried to claw back but the best they got was a header in the 88th which was comfortably saved by the keeper Niklas Neuman. They also had a through ball in the last minute that wasn’t put away, giving the Terrapins the 2-1 win, and another Friday night victory this year at Ludwig Field.
During halftime, Cirovski talked to the team about improving the flat attacking in the first half, and noticed improvements in the next period.
“There was just a little bit more malice in the way we attacked in the second half,” Cirovski said. “It wasn’t just kind of passing the buck.”
The Terps will look to continue their promising season against High Point University on Monday.
