No. 4 seed Maryland men’s soccer goes up against Washington in NCAA Quarterfinals

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

Maryland men’s soccer will face a familiar opponent this Saturday in the NCAA Quarterfinals – the Washington Huskies, a conference foe the Terps handled in the regular season.

Washington will be traveling across the country to College Park for the second time this year –it’ll be the fifth meeting between the two teams in each program’s history. 

Fourth-seeded Maryland (13-1-4, 8-0-2 Big Ten) holds a 3-1 series record over Washington (13-6-2, 7-3-0 Big Ten) – and a 2-0 record against them in College Park. One of those wins came earlier this year – on Oct. 31 – where the Terps won 1-0 in a physical game that saw both teams combine for 25 fouls and four yellow cards. 

Washington’s defense was strong, with graduate goalkeeper Jadon Bowton recording four saves throughout the match, but Maryland eventually broke through. Senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika scored the game’s only goal with seven minutes left to go.

Ndrenika was also a key contributor in the Terps’ 3-0 victory against thirteenth-seeded UConn last week – a physical match that resulted in seven yellow cards and two Huskies red cards. 

Freshman forward Rocket Ritarita has been a driving force for Maryland in the postseason. Less than a minute after entering the UConn match, the freshman tried to find the back of the net but was stopped by Huskies goalkeeper Kyle Durham. The ball bounced off Durham and landed right in front of Ndrenika, who converted for the Terps’ first goal of the match.

In the 37th minute, Ritarita found the back of the net – his second career postseason goal – to give Maryland a 2-0 lead.

“He’s a great player. He hasn’t started a lot of games,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said following the match. “It doesn’t diminish the value he brings to our team every game.”

Junior forward Luke van Heukelum closed the match by firing one in with three minutes left to go – his first goal since Sept. 9.

Washington is coming off of a 1-0 victory against the twelve seed in Stanford. 

The Huskies’ leading goal-scorer, junior forward Charlie Kosakoff, scored the only goal of the match with two minutes left. Senior Richie Aman, the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, found sophomore midfielder Zach Ramsey in the corner of the box. He sent it over to Kosakoff, who put it away with an impressive header. Aman ranks fourth in the nation for assists with 11. 

Although Maryland should be on the lookout for the scoring duo of Kosakoff and Aman, the Terps have a couple advantages over the Huskies besides the series record.

Maryland ranks third in the nation in scoring offense with 44 goals over 18 games, averaging 2.44 goals per game. Washington ranks 11th in the nation in scoring offense with 45 goals throughout 21 games, with an average of 2.14 goals per game.

Bowton has only played 17 out of 21 games this season but has recorded 36 saves and allowed 17 goals – good for a 0.679 save percentage. Maryland sophomore Laurin Mack, the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, has started every game this season and holds a 0.783 save percentage. He’s recorded 54 saves and allowed 15 goals throughout 18 games.

Last week’s victory marked the first time the Terps have made it past the third round of the NCAA Tournament since 2018 – a tournament that finished with Maryland as the NCAA Champions. Kick off is at 1 p.m. at Ludwig Field.