A major part of No. 4 Maryland men’s soccer’s regular season success last season was their ability to win with a variety of play styles against stout opponents. The Terps went 5-0 against ranked opponents in 2025 and looked to replicate that success Saturday night against No. 9 High Point.
After a grueling 80 minutes, Rodrigo Neri became the hero for Terps, scoring his first goal of the season and the eventual game winner as the Terps outlasted the Panthers for a 1-0 victory.
“It was a well-played
and hard fought game,” said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “It was a game where you needed a special play to win it.”
Franklin Affanyi cleared the ball deep into the Panthers half of the field where Neri was able to track down the ball and gain control with a chest touch. Neri then slid to his left past two defenders and found the bottom right corner of the net past the Panthers’ Josh Caron. The freshman had been an offensive spark all game for the Terps, totaling six of the Terps’ 18 shots.
“This is the best home crowd someone could ask for,” said Neri. “Those last moments that are very hard… you hear them and you just want to push even harder.”
Maryland’s netminder Laurin Mack looked comfortable as ever in the final 10 minutes of the game, icing the Terps’ victory with two key saves in the 83rd and 87th minutes of the match. Mack finished the contest with four saves on 11 total shots, earning his first shutout of the season.
Maryland trotted out the third different starting lineup in as many games with senior midfielder Kenny Quist-Therson making his first start of the season. With the absence of Jace Clark due to a season-ending ACL tear and injuries to Lilian Fichelle and Said El Eyssami, head coach Sasho Cirovski opted to start three defenders and four midfielders for the first time this season.
The lineup change led to the Terps’ best defensive half thus far in the young season. The backline trio of Ljubomir Popivic, Farouk Cisse and Franklin Affanyi helped stymie the Panthers, who took just two shots in the first half. High Point had entered the match with the seventh-best scoring offense in the country, averaging four goals a game.
However, the Panthers’ defense was also on point. Despite seven shots for the Terps, Neri logged the lone shot on goal in the first half. Maryland maintained possession for large stretches of the first 45 minutes, but without El-Eyssami, it struggled to find high-quality scoring chances against the High Point defense.
The Terps gained some traction around the 60 minute mark in the second half. Neri, Leon Koehl and Albi Ndrenika all had solid scoring chances for the Terps with multiple shots going off the post, inches away from the game-winner. Henry Bernstein continued the Terps’ offensive surge in the 78th minute with a shot on goal followed by a rebound that was blocked out of play.
Terp injuries have been plentiful in their first two games and the injury bug nearly struck again in the 72nd minute. High Point’s Alfred Baafi went after a rebound from a Mack save on Anthony Ramirez. Mack reached the ball first, but Baafi collided into him head-on and the ball trickled into the net.
The goal wasn’t counted for the Panthers due to the foul, and Mack was able to get up on his own power and recover in time to make those critical, game-sealing stops.
Three things to know
1. Return of the Mack. After conceding three goals in the Terps’ first two games, Mack looked like his All-Big Ten self in his first shutout of the season. He now has 13 career shutouts in the red, white and gold to pair with 124 career saves.
“We all know the amazing player we have in goal,” said Neri. “It feels amazing to have that type of player in net.”
2. Panthers plummet. High Point’s attack of Daniel Lugo, Nick Sarantakos, Alfred Baafi and Prosper Adagani are regarded as some of the best in college soccer. But the Panthers’ quartet of offensive weapons were nowhere to be found, combining for three shots in 264 combined minutes. After losing a defender in each of the first two games, Popovic, Cisse and Affanyi all stayed on the turf for the full 90 minutes.
3. KQT time. Kenny Quist-Therson made his first start this season for the Terps, logging 90 minutes in their top 10 victory. Quist-Therson was thrust into a hybrid defender and midfield role and excelled, changing the look of the Terps’ defensive structure and bolstering both the back and midline.
