Maryland men’s soccer’s season ends in NCAA Quarterfinals with 3-1 loss to Washington

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

Maryland men’s soccer – a team compiled with 13 seniors – ended its season in an upsetting fashion on Saturday against Washington. 

“This team is very special,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “They brought the Maryland style, the Maryland culture, back into the Maryland program.”

After defeating the Huskies during the regular season, the fourth-seeded Terps (13-2-4, 8-0-2 Big Ten) fell to Washington (14-6-2, 7-3-0 Big Ten) on Saturday at Ludwig to close out the 2025 season. 

“I think this group will leave the legacy that they brought Maryland soccer back to the forefront of the country. They made us legitimate contenders,” Cirovski said. “[They brought] a lot of pride and smiles to our fans.”

“I give the respect to Maryland because not many teams come here and win games,” Washington’s head coach Jamie Clark said.

Huskies midfielder Joe Dale took the first shots of the match in the opening ten minutes. The redshirt junior’s first shot missed high, and the second was stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Laurin Mack. Mack came to the front of the box to stop Dale for his second shot and was able to divert the midfielder’s sliding kick to the right of the net.

A few minutes later, senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika tried to put the Terps on the board. After scoring the first goal last week against the thirteenth seed UConn, the senior had another chance to find the back of the net – but graduate goalkeeper Jadon Bowton made a diving save to block the senior’s shot.

Up next was forward Sadam Masereka, who leads Maryland in goals with nine. The senior fought off two defenders – one was Gabe Fernandez. The sophomore attempted to slide in front of Masereka’s feet to gain possession of the ball, but was unsuccessful – Masereka fired one in, but was stopped by Bowton as well.

Last week, senior Joseph Umberto Picotto, one of the Terps’ most valuable midfielders, was injured during the match against UConn. Freshman midfielder Henry Bernstein started his first career match on Saturday in Picotto’s place. 

In the 18th minute, Bernstein put Maryland on the scoreboard with his third goal of the season. On a corner kick, Washington’s entire box was filled with players. The ball bounced off of senior defender Lasse Kelp’s head and went right to Bernstein, who headed it into the net while trampling Bowton with him. 

After sitting out last week’s match, midfielder Leon Koehl – one of Maryland’s more valuable players – got the start. The junior was right in front of the box, unguarded, and fired one in but missed to the left. 

In the 32nd minute, the Huskies thought they scored. 

Leading goal-scorer junior forward Charlie Kosakoff made his way past senior defender Lasse Kelp on a slide and Mack and fired one in – but was ruled offside.

Washington evened the score a minute later. 

A corner kick taken by senior midfielder Richie Aman landed right in front of freshman midfielder Osato Enabulele, who was patiently waiting in the crowd by the net and tapped the ball in to make it a 1-1 game.

After getting outshot seven to three in the first half, Washington’s offense entered the second half strong. They recorded three shots within the first five minutes – Mack saved the only attempt on goal.

“I thought the first 30 minutes of this game, we played some great soccer,” Cirovski said. “It just looked like we lost a little bit of that quality in the second half.”

Maryland’s defense lacked its usual aggression in the second half. 

In the 55th minute, the Huskies took the lead with a goal by Kosakoff. The leading goal-scorer received the ball from Dale, who was able to maneuver past Kelp.

A one point lead was not enough for Washington. 

With twenty minutes left to go, sophomore midfielder Alex Hall put one away to make it a 3-1 game with an assist by Aman. Prior to the match, Aman ranked fourth in the nation for assists with 11 – he recorded two throughout the match. 

Washington dominated possession throughout the final half of the match and wanted to continue adding on, but Mack ensured that the Huskies scoring stopped there. 

Following Hall’s goal, the midfielder tried to get another three minutes later, but Mack stopped him. He would record two more saves– a total of seven throughout the match – to close out Maryland’s season. 

“The way that we played with the ball, the way we defended, the pride, the joy, the beauty that is Maryland soccer – this team had it,” Cirovski said.