No. 4 Maryland men’s soccer edges past No. 14 Indiana 3-2

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

With time winding down in the second half, No. 4 Maryland men’s soccer had the opportunity to match its best start to a season.

Maryland (10-0-3, 6-0-2 Big Ten) did just that, edging past No. 14 Indiana (11-4-1, 4-4-0 Big Ten) 3-2 on Friday night at Ludwig Field in College Park. The win marks 13 consecutive games without a loss — its best start since 2017.

“It was a wonderful game,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “It’s one of those games that gives you the confidence that you can be a contender, and we do after that game.”

Roughly four minutes into the match, senior defender Luca Costabile was injured after Indiana graduate student defender Ben Do earned a yellow card for unsporting behavior.

“He got me pretty bad,” Constable said. “I was like ‘there’s no chance I’m gonna go out … I’m gonna score a goal and we’re gonna win today.’”

Nearly ten minutes later, Costabile did just that. He quickly spun off a defender before rifling a shot near the top left corner of the box through the hands of freshman goalkeeper Judewellin Michel. The goal was Costabile’s first since Aug. 29 and gave the Terps a 1-0 lead.

The goal sparked Maryland’s offense, which had struggled to maintain possession of the ball throughout the first 12 minutes. After Costabile’s goal, the Terps outshot the Hoosiers 7-5. 

Maryland had a chance to double its lead in the 18th minute as sophomore forward Stephane Njike attempted to feed fellow forward Sadam Masereka. But the senior just missed tapping the ball on top of the net.

But in the second half, the two connected. In the 58th minute, Njike pivoted towards midfield before feathering a pass between a triage of defenders to a streaking Masereka by the right post. This time Masereka did not miss, placing a shot into the back of the net before Michel could get across.

Maserka’s goal gave life to Maryland’s home crowd, but it was quickly silenced as sophomore midfielder Charlie Heuer cut the Terps’ lead in half on a shot from outside the box. The goal is the first Maryland has surrendered since Sept. 26 against Northwestern. 

In the 75th minute, the Terps rejuvenated their home crowd as senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika threaded a pass through three defenders, hitting Njike in stride. Michel played Njike aggressively, charging towards him. But Njike chipped a shot over the goalkeeper, giving Maryland a 3-1 lead.

“His ability to create something is really unparalleled in the college game, and we saw it on this play tonight,” Cirovski said on Njike. 

The Terps’ defense was strong throughout most of the matchup against forward Palmer Ault. The senior entered the match as one of the nation’s second-most prolific goal scorers — with 14 goals. But in the 80th minute, Ault cut Maryland’s lead back to one on a pass from sophomore forward Michael Nesci.

Despite the late-game defensive lapses, the Terps closed out the game by maintaining possession and keeping the ball on the other half of the field.

“The focus right now is not on the national championship or the past,” Cirovski said. “Getting recovered and getting ready for a really good Washington team next week…[is] the way we’re looking at this.”