It was only fitting that top-seed Maryland men’s soccer’s postseason journey started with No. 4-seed UCLA.
After dropping last season’s Big Ten Tournament game against the Bruins, 6-0, and producing a scoreless
draw earlier in the year, Maryland needed to conquer its biggest obstacle to remain unbeaten.
But in front of 4,800 fans, the Terps failed to do so. They suffered their first loss of the season, 2-0, in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
Maryland, which has been dominant at home and led every game from nearly wire-to-wire, faced some adversity for the first time all season. It withered under the pressure, producing another goalless performance.
Ander Marticorena’s 73rd-minute goal — his first of the season —and a late score from Sergi Solans Ormo quickly silenced the home crowd. Solans Ormo was practically nonexistent during the two sides’ earlier meeting, failing to produce a shot on goal. Since then, the redshirt sophomore has been on a tear, with eight goals across three matches.
Maryland made a consistent effort to put a body on the young center forward in Wednesday’s meeting. When the Terps were out of possession, Lasse Kelp and Tristen Rose took turns hovering around Solans Ormo. He never had a second to operate early on.
Despite the Bruins’ red-hot form — 14 goals over their last three games — the Terps’ defense seemed unfazed. Maryland kept UCLA’s forwards away from dangerous areas, and it resulted in a rather controlled first 45 minutes.
The Terps limited UCLA to zero shots on goal for the third straight half. But their offense didn’t create much more than their opponents.
After producing just two shots on goal in the first meeting on the way to their only scoreless outing of the regular season, Maryland’s attacking trio couldn’t maneuver their way through UCLA’s compact defense.
The closest the Terps got in the opening half was off the boot of Stephane Njike, but the LIU transfer’s 20th-minute shot — the only shot on goal of the first half — didn’t threaten UCLA goalie Kevin Box.
After a goalless opening 45 minutes, the second half provided some more excitement. The Bruins fired their first two shots on goal in the opening three minutes, but Laurin Mack comfortably scooped up the rolling balls.
Njike cut inside on his preferred right foot on a pair of occasions and produced two close efforts — the first forcing a diving stop to the bottom left corner in the 55th minute. Even when the sophomore winger didn’t produce a shot, his constant weaving through traffic marveled the home crowd.
Luca Costabile nearly put the home side in front just one minute later, but his shot resulted in Box’s third save of the night. Still, it felt like the game-winner was nearly approaching.
And it was, but not for the Terps. Solans Ormo received a ball over the top in the 73rd minute, and calmly slid it across the pitch to Marticorena. The freshman calmly buried his shot in the bottom corner for the game’s opening score.
Soon after, Solans Ormo found the back of the net himself. Defender Shakir Nixon lobbed a ball to the back post, which Marticorena drilled towards the foot of the sophomore Spanish forward. Solans Ormo directed it into the far post for his ninth goal over the past four matches.
Three things to know
1. Unfamiliar territory. Maryland trailed for just 78 seconds in the regular season, and it still found a way to earn a point. Wednesday night was the first time the Terps went down and showed no life of pulling off the comeback.
2. Offense falters once again. With so many attacking threats, Maryland’s offense has shown prowess all season, outside of its 0-0 draw against UCLA. The nation’s second-best offense was held without a goal for the second time this season, and never really looked like finding the game-winner.
3. Undefeated no more. The Terps entered the match as one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the country — No. 2 Vermont as the other. While Maryland suffered their first loss against a quality UCLA team, perfect campaigns are hard to come by in college soccer. The Terps will hope to turn the page in the NCAA Tournament.
