No. 11 Maryland men’s soccer’s most recent game, a 3-2 win against Michigan showed its offensive firepower, but the mental lapses on defense that had plagued them all season remained.
The Terps cleaned up their defending and weathered the Red Storm in Tuesday’s dominant 1-0 victory over St. John’s.
Maryland held the Johnnies to five total shots and made light work of the St. John’s corners and set pieces, something the Terps have struggled with thus far this season.
“I thought our commitment to defending, particularly on set pieces and in transition, was excellent today,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We limited a very good St. John’s team to very few chances.”
The game-winning goal for the Terps arrived in the 61st minute as Rodrigo Neri netted his team-high seventh goal of the year. Farouk Cisse sparked the goal, winning a battle in the midfield and getting the feed forward to Maryland’s natural striker.
Neri kept the shot on the ground, finding space in the bottom right corner of the net past the Red Storm keeper Nico Bezama. It was the 18th goal allowed by Bezama through 13 games for St. John’s.
Maryland netminder Laurin Mack, meanwhile, had a comfortable game in net, facing two shots on goal and earning his third clean sheet of the season. Mack continues to prove that despite the defensive struggles, he will remain a valuable asset to the Terps’ success.
“I gotta give a shout out to my defense today because they did a pretty good job,” Mack said. “I mean we’re trusting everybody in the backline, and today we rotated different players in different positions.”
Maryland had complete control in the first half of the fixture, outshooting the Red Storm, 11-2 , and taking four more shots on goal. Franklin Affanyi and Ljubomir Popovic had the most dangerous chances of the half.
Popovic’s shot came in the 38th minute off a Maryland free kick. The set piece specialist blasted a shot to the top left but Bezama climbed the ladder to deflect the ball over the net.
Affanyi ended the first half with another scoring chance, with under a minute left to go. Popovic sent in a ball from the corner quickly to Leon Koehl, who played the ball into the box. Affanyi got a foot on the pass and deflected towards Bezama, but the St. John’s keeper made another quality save.
Maryland dominated possession throughout the second half as well. Each level of the Terps’ defense stayed in lockstep, not allowing any easy passes or scoring opportunities.
The Terps finished with their ninth one-goal victory of the season. Every win for Maryland has been tightly-contested.
Tuesday’s game featured appearances from 19 different Terps, allowing the players who have played significant minutes some early rest ahead of their next game.
“This was the first game since probably the Georgetown game . . . that we’ve actually had the availability of everybody,” Cirovski said. “Two days ago when we were training, we looked around and said, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve got everybody available.’”
The Terps now look forward to their final three games of Big Ten play. This Saturday, Maryland will take on Ohio State at 7 p.m. at Ludwig. The next match will be an intriguing match in Seattle as they take on No. 7 Washington. The Terps final game of the regular season will be a home bout against Penn State.
Three things to know
1. Remarkable Rodrigo. Since stepping foot in College Park, Neri has shined in his striker role for Maryland. The freshman scored his seventh goal in Tuesday’s match, which is tied for third-most in the Big Ten. Neri is also one of just three Terps to start every game this season, alongside Mack and Cisse.
2. Shoutout the Shutout. Maryland’s shutout victory was their third of the season and was reminiscent of last year’s team that forced nine shutouts. St. John’s entered the match averaging 12.6 shots per game and were held seven shots below that average. When the backline and midfield are healthy, it appears the Terps can defend at an elite level with a talented goalie behind them. Defense will be the deciding factor of how far the Terps can go this season.
“I think you just want to get better as the season progresses and you’ve got to be tight defensively,” Cirovski said. “I think we want to become a team that takes a bit more pride in our defending.”
3. Tip-top Terps. With Lillian Fichelle re-entering the starting lineup for Maryland in Tuesday’s match, the Terps were back to their full complement of players — Jace Clark, who is out for the season due to an ACL injury, is the exception. Health will be a key component to the Terps success as they finish the regular season and enter tournament play for the Big Ten and NCAA. Cirovski has preached all season the importance of being able to get the same group of guys on the field to further develop their chemistry and keep improving the inconsistent defense.