No. 6 Maryland men’s soccer and No. 19 UCLA draw 1-1 on senior day

Photo courtesy of Allison Mize/Maryland Terrapins

No. 6 Maryland looked headed for another victory with a 1-0 lead in the second half but No. 19 UCLA had other plans. The Bruins sprung a quick counterattack and stretched apart the Terps’ defense, finding an open Tamir Ratoviz in the box to slot an equalizer into the net.

Maryland men’s soccer drew UCLA (6-3-5, 3-2-3 Big Ten), 1-1, on senior day in College Park. The two storied programs met for the first time since 2019 and their first matchup as Big Ten foes.  

The Terps (8-1-5, 5-0-2) suffered a potentially costly blow when midfielder Leon Koehl exited the match with an injury late in the first half. Koehl is Maryland’s joint-leading scorer with six goals and was recently ranked as the 23rd best men’s college soccer player by Top Drawer Soccer in their Midseason Top 100. He left the match limping and was replaced in the second half by Jace Clark, who started at right back with Alex Nitzl moved into the midfield. 

“Leon is a high-quality player for us,” Nitzl said. “So obviously losing a player of his quality always hurts but we’ve got a lot of good players on the field. We keep playing our game no matter who is on the field.” 

The Terps’ other joint-leading scorer Colin Griffith returned from his one-game absence due to an undisclosed injury against George Mason. The forward only played 52 minutes as coach Sasho Cirovski seemed to take issue with something Griffith did or said and pulled him early in the second half. The two got into a shouting match on the sideline after the substitution that culminated in Cirovski appearing to tell the junior to sit down. 

“I think Colin is a bit rusty from his injury and wasn’t at his level and therefore I took him out of the game,” Cirovski said. 

Albi Ndrenika was a bright spot for Maryland in the first half. He provided energy in the midfield and played the passes to set up the Terps’ best chances of the half.

Maryland almost scored in the first minute when Ndrenika fired a cross across the face of the goal but two Terps in the box failed to get a touch on the ball. The junior slipped a well-weighted pass in the fifth minute to Koehl, who fired his shot into the side netting.

Ndrenika went on to assist the opening goal in the 25th minute. He played a pass to Sadam Masereka, who used his elite pace to get around his defender and nutmeg goalie Wyatt Nelson. The Lindsey Wilson College transfer has found his form recently, scoring three goals in his last four games. 

UCLA’s offense had four shots in the first half but couldn’t capitalize on dangerous looks. The Bruins’ high press frustrated Maryland’s backline, forcing the Terps into several turnovers. Masereka nearly gifted the Bruins a goal in the 14th minute when he turned the ball over trying to dribble out of the box. Goalie Laurin Mack saved Jacob Diaz’s shot to deny UCLA.

Maryland settled into a familiar pattern of getting numbers behind the ball and defending its lead following the goal. The Terps only attempted one more first half shot but prevented UCLA from creating many quality shots.

Ndrenika popped up all over the pitch. He directed a header off a Max Rogers’ corner just wide in the 52nd minute.

Maryland looked in control in the second half but UCLA equalized against the run of play. Nicholas Cavallo switched the field in the 56th minute with a lofted pass to Philip Naef, who found an open Ratoviz in the box between two defenders. The midfielder didn’t hesitate and knocked his shot past Mack for a goal.

Following the goal and because of Koehl’s injury, Chris Steinleitner started to drop further and even into the back line to form a back three. He played in front of the other two center backs at times and dropped in and out of the line. This opened up Luca Costabile and Clark to push higher as wing-backs. 

The second half was nervy for the Terps’ defense. Maryland escaped disaster in the 75th minute when Kulvik slid to stop a cross and appeared to potentially deflect the ball off his hand. The referee opted not to review the play.  

Mack was forced to come off his line later in the same sequence to try to close down Andre Ochoa but the Bruin attacker passed to Jose Contell, who shot at the open net. Clark made a key block on Contell’s shot to keep the match tied. 

“Jace is known for those kind of tackles,” Mack said. “He’s giving great effort in general at all times and it shows how we defend.”

The Terps will look to get back in the win column on the road against No. 18 Michigan next Friday.