Maryland forward Joshua Bolma raced down the right side of the field with no Ohio State defender in his direct path. The redshirt sophomore stepped into the box, searching for the right play.
Bolma found forward Max Riley right in front of the net, who shot the ball without hesitation off his left foot. The ball traveled past Buckeye goalkeeper Max Trejo, into the bottom left corner of the net to give the Terps a 1-0 lead.
The score was the first of Riley’s career, and it was definitely a big one, as it was all Maryland needed to down Ohio State, 1-0.
“It’s big time, man, it’s big time,” Bolma said of Riley’s goal. “Coach always says that everybody should be ready [to enter]. He was ready, he came in. It was a big part of the win.”
No. 9 Maryland men’s soccer hosted No. 13 Ohio State in a highly anticipated top-15 matchup.
With Ohio State entering the match undefeated, Maryland searched to give the Buckeyes their first loss of the year.
With only 15 combined goals allowed heading into the match, a low-scoring defensive-centric game was expected. Both sides delivered on that side of the ball, with only two combined shots on goal through the first 45 minutes of action. Possession was split evenly as well with Maryland at 47% and Ohio State at 53%
Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski had made working with his forwards a point of emphasis throughout the week leading up to Sunday. However, the forwards still seemed to struggle creating much offense against an elite Ohio State backline.
One positive that the Terps could point to from the first half was the noticeable defensive improvement from the last match against Penn State. After allowing three careless goals to the Nittany Lions, the Terps seemed to be much more focused in their defensive attack against the Buckeyes, allowing only five total shots in the first half.
“I think we took some of the carelessness and casualness out of our game today on the defensive side,” Cirovski said. “We didn’t gift too many chances today. So I thought from that standpoint, we grew a lot as a team.”
The closest either team came to scoring in the first half came in the 30th minute. Just 30 seconds after checking into the match, Maryland forwards Colin Griffith and Stefan Copetti connected on a beautiful pass with Griffith leading the way. However, Copetti’s shot missed a few inches to the left, ricocheting off the goalpost, keeping the match scoreless.
Despite the spark from Copetti, the Terps couldn’t capitalize on the newfound momentum. Maryland registered no more shot attempts in the first half, and both teams entered the locker room searching for extra life in the second half.
An early second half yellow card was charged to Maryland defender Chris Rindov near the penalty box. With a great opportunity for the Buckeyes to break the scoreless tie, midfielder Parker Grinstead lined up and shot a missile, but his free kick sailed way over the net.
Cirovski made some key personnel adjustments to start the second half, one of them being freshman forward Max Riley, who had not seen the field in the first half.
Just 11 minutes after checking in, Riley made his presence felt, putting the Terps on the scoreboard in the 56th minute. Bolma, who recorded his fourth assist of the season, perfectly set up Riley to break the scoreless tie.
“I think our movement was a lot better today, and holding the ball up especially,” Riley said. “Coming into today our main focus… was holding the ball up, getting the little flicks onto our windows, and then obviously putting the ball in the back of the net, and we did that well today.”
Ohio State had a few chances to join Maryland on the scoreboard following Riley’s goal with four second half corner kicks and four shot attempts, but the Maryland defense stood strong, securing its first shutout of the season.
“I’m very, very happy with getting the first clean sheet of the year,” Cirovski said. “That’s something that we’ve been challenging our guys [to get], and today they delivered. It was a very good defensive performance by us today.”
Despite not having many chances to score throughout the match, the Terps made one of theirs count, and the Buckeyes couldn’t say the same. That seemed to be the only difference on Sunday, as it led to the Terps to defeat arguably its toughest opponent of the season.
Ohio State fell to 1-1 in Big Ten play and 5-1-3 overall. The Terps improved to 2-0-1 in Big Ten play and 5-1-2 overall.
Next up, the Terps take a quick break from Big Ten action with a Friday match against Old Dominion.
