No. 23 Maryland men’s soccer showcases depth scoring in 4-1 win vs Northwestern

Photo by Kevin Snyder/Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

Heading into Friday’s match, Maryland men’s soccer’s lineup looked different.

The Terps were without their leading goal scorer, Stephane Njike, after receiving a red card in Maryland’s prior game against Penn State. But Njike’s absence did not affect Maryland’s offensive output as the Terps tallied four goals — their most since Sep. 1.

Fueled by goals from four different players, No. 23 Maryland cruised past Northwestern 4-1 at Ludwig Field.

“This game was gonna be a great challenge for us after having a midweek game and Northwestern being off a week,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We started a bit slow, but then we really raised the level after about the 20th minute. After that, we created a majority of the chances and goals, so I’m really proud of our team.”

To combat Njike’s absence, Maryland (6-0-2, 2-0-1 Big Ten) opted to run a 4-4-2 system instead of its usual 4-3-3. It was also evident that the Terps wanted to get senior forward Sadam Masereka involved early. Early on, Masereka was able to find more space in the open field than in the last game. After multiple chances on the wings, he finally got his first shot attempt in the 9th minute.

After 64 minutes of play, Masereka extended the Terps’ lead to two with a bicycle kick. The score was his second point of the game.

“Sadam’s such a wonderful player,” Cirovski said. “He sometimes frustrates you because he doesn’t execute the simple things sometimes, and then he does the complicated things unbelievably well, and you’re like, wow, where did that come from.”

After a back-and-forth 25 minutes with scoring opportunities on both sides, junior midfielder Leon Koehl tallied the game’s first goal. After Maseraka was knocked down on the left side of the box, Koehl got his opportunity from a penalty kick. Koehl approached the ball and ripped the shot past the keeper as he had many times before. Last season, Koehl led the nation in penalty kicks with a perfect 7-for-7.

The scoring didn’t stop there. In the 30th minute, senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika scored his second goal of the season on a pass from fellow senior Luca Costabile. The goal gave Maryland a 2-0 lead.

Northwestern (5-3-1, 2-1 Big Ten) answered the two goals from Maryland with one of their own in the 36th minute. After consecutive touches from sophomore forwards Italo Addimandi and Omar Jallow, junior midfielder Peter Riesz found the back of the net to cut the Maryland lead to one. 

Coming out of the half, Maryland resumed its relentless pursuit of the goal, resulting in a chance for junior forward Luke van Heukelum. But junior goalkeeper Josue Hangi got a piece of the shot before it hit the crossbar and flew over the net.

Northwestern forced a multitude of corner kicks over the course of the game, but Maryland’s corner defense held strong. Sophomore goalkeeper Laurin Mack and the rest of the Terps’ defense were in lockstep as they stifled all eight of the Wildcats’ corner kick opportunities. 

“It’s just awareness and being alert on corner kicks and long balls,” defender Lasse Kelp said. “We also cover each other and anticipate it early and make sure we pick up the second one.”

After a rocky game against Penn St, Laurin Mack looked more in control between the pipes against the Northwestern attack. He finished with a game-high six saves, adding to his save total of 23 on the season coming into the match.

The Terps’ offense continued to score deep into the game, connecting on their fourth corner of the match after an own goal by Hangi in the 79th minute. The goal extended Maryland’s lead to 4-1.

The Terps’ offensive performance without Njike bodes well as they now prepare to play UCLA on Oct. 3.