After 88 minutes, No. 4 Maryland men’s soccer was gridlocked in a 2-2 draw with UCLA, despite having taken 22 shots.
Rodrigo Neri had eyes for the net when he delivered the 23rd, but his booming strike narrowly soared over the top right corner of the goal. The Bruins were able to hold on for the final minute and secure the 2-2 result.
Despite having a man advantage to begin the second half, the Terps couldn’t solve the problems posed by the Bruins’ goalkeeper, Wyatt Nelson. Down 2-1 in the 77th minute,
tensions were high for the Maryland side as the Terps pressed for the equalizer.
Finally, the Terps found their answer from the foot of Dominic Ayella after an awkward sequence of events led to the game-tying goal.
Lillian Fichelle played a ball into the box for Said El Eyssami, who got off a bouncing header toward Nelson. Nelson couldn’t grab the ball, allowing Leon Koehl to take a shot and opening the deflection chance for Ayella to score his second goal of the season.
“ . . . We haven’t trained a man up this year so we had to make an adjustment to that,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “. . . We should have won. We had enough chances to win that game.”
The first half had been uneventful for Maryland in their previous two games, combining for six shots and no goals. Rodrigo Neri broke the dry spell for the Terps with his fourth goal of the season in the fifth minute.
Neri used his speed to chase down an exceptional lead pass from defender Ljubomir Popovic from deep in the Terps’ defensive third. Neri’s goal put him in a tie for the team lead in goals with fellow standout freshman Said El Eyssami.
Outside of the Terps’ quick score, the Bruins dominated possession for the first 30 minutes of the game. In the 19th minute, Jaime Amaro scored the equalizer for UCLA after Maryland players were caught lobbying for a call in the midfield. The Bruins’ Ander Marticorena seized possession of the ball and advanced quickly into the attacking third, ultimately setting up Amaro with plenty of space to fire a shot past Laurin Mack.
The Terps caught a break at the 30-minute mark after Bruins midfielder Diego Martinez was booked for a red card after review. The Terps skyed a ball forward to Neri, who was gaining ground on the pass before Martinez impeded his path, knocking him to the ground.
The man advantage allowed the Terps to completely overtake the possession battle and comfortably cycle in the Bruins zone for the remainder of the half. However, Maryland was unable to capitalize with a goal.
Despite being a man down, the Bruins were able to maintain offensive pressure against the Terps to start the second half, resulting in a set-piece goal for Victor Ciaurriz in the 54th minute. Arnold Cameron booted a perfectly placed ball on the corner for the Bruins, and the Terps weren’t able to keep Ciaurriz off the ball.
The Terps now stare down the barrel of a crucial three-game stretch of ranked Big Ten opponents. The first begins next Friday in Bloomington against No. 2 Indiana.
Cirovski had a blunt message following Friday’s draw.
“We’re giving up too many goals per game,” Cirovski said. “This will be the last one you’ll see like this.”
Three things to know
1. Bruins have the Terps number. Since UCLA joined the Big Ten, the Terps haven’t been able to take them down, drawing three times with them during the regular season. The Bruins are also responsible for knocking the Terps out of the Big Ten tournament in the past two seasons. The Terps haven’t beaten UCLA since 2017 and trail the all-time series 4-5-5.
“They’ve nipped us in the bud in the conference playoffs so we hope we get a chance to play them in the playoffs.”
2. Quality and quantity. The Terps were able to pepper the Bruins with 24 shots, seven of them being on goal. Entering Friday’s match, the Bruins had allowed less than three shots on goal on average. Although the Terps broke the trend, the Bruins’ backline and goalkeeping found a way to limit the Terps to two goals.
3. 1996. The 1996 Maryland ACC championship-winning team was honored at halftime. The team won the first Maryland championship under Cirovski, who had kind words for the team after the game.
“You know when I came to Maryland, we were at the bottom of the ACC and in four years we planted ourselves as ACC champions . . . ,” Cirovski said. “That is the most meaningful conference championship during my 34 years . . . that group is very special.”
