Maryland men’s soccer trounces Saint Francis 6-0 in first home win

Maryland men’s soccer struggled in the second half of their game on Friday against Bucknell, blowing their 2-1 halftime lead. Tonight against Saint Francis, the Terps scored five of their six goals during the second half of the match, three of them during the last 10 minutes. 

Maryland men’s soccer (2-0-1) defeated Saint Francis (0-3-0) in a 6-0 romp for its first home win of the season and a morale-boosting performance after its squandered lead against Bucknell.

With two goals by junior forward Luke van Heukelum in the 40th and 61st minute, one by senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika in the 58th minute, first career goals by senior defender Brian St. Martin and freshman midfielder Henry Bernstein, and finally a score from freshman Mateo Caride, the Terps secured their largest margin of victory in a shutout win since they defeated California 6-0 in 2012.

In the beginning of Monday’s match, Saint Francis gained possession of the ball after it made its way to senior goalkeeper Braeden Sorenson, but the Terps regained control soon after.

The Red Flash received a corner kick in the sixth minute by junior defender Harvey Skurek and a free kick in the 16th minute, though Maryland corralled both.

A long kick by sophomore goalkeeper Laurin Mack made its way into forward sophomore Stephane Njike’s possession in the 20th minute. Njike scored his first goal as a Terp against Bucknell on Friday, after transferring to Maryland from Long Island University. 

The ball got to senior Ndrenika in the next minute, but he fired and missed in the high right corner of the goal post. 

Maryland substituted Ndrenika for van Heukelum in the 23rd minute, a decision that proved wise later in the first half.

The same minute, a shot by senior midfielder Matias de Jesus to the low left of the goal post was saved by Sorenson. A follow-up shot by de Jesus was blocked seconds after. 

A corner kick in the 33rd minute by senior defender Luca Costabile was passed to fellow senior defender Lasse Kelp, then to van Heukelum. The forward netted his shot, but the goal was waved off after van Heukelum was ruled offside.

Van Heukelum would redeem himself only seven minutes later.

A double assist from St. Martin and de Jesus in the 40th minute set up a goal from van Heukelum to give Maryland a 1-0 lead.

The first half ended with the Terps having 71 percent of total possession, five shots on target, and 13 total shots, while Saint Francis had one total shot, which was saved.

The Terps extended their lead over the Red Flash in the 58th minute with a goal from Ndrenika, assisted by Kelp and de Jesus, to bring the score to 2-0.

Maryland continued to pour it on in the second half just three minutes later.

Van Heukelum struck for his second goal of the night and de Jesus notched his third assist of the game, giving the Terps a comfortable 3-0 advantage over the Red Flash. 

Maryland continued to put pressure on Sorenson and Saint Francis’ back line in the 65th minute with a shot from Costabile that was saved and an attempt by van Heukelum that missed to the right.  

In the 71st minute, Bernstein, who substituted van Heuklum in the 68th minute, went to score in the low center of the goal post, but Sorenson denied him. 

St. Martin notched the Terps’ fourth goal with an assist from Bernstein in the 82nd minute. Three minutes later, the freshman scored his first collegiate goal in his third career game with an assist by junior midfielder Leon Koehl and freshman forward Rocket Ritarita, extending Maryland’s lead to 5-0.

With three minutes left, the Terps scored again with a goal by Caride with assists by Ritarita and senior defender Joel Brown, giving Maryland its sixth and final goal of the match. Saint Francis has yet to score a goal this season. 

Maryland will play under the lights at Ludwig Field again against Pacific on Saturday night. The Tigers are 1-2-0 so far and were outscored 0-5 in their two losses.