Maryland men’s soccer’s season on life support after 2-1 loss to Indiana

Maryland men’s soccer appeared to have captured back momentum when forward Stefan Copetti knotted the game 1-1 in the 68th minute.

However, Indiana’s star attacker, Samuel Sarver, silenced the crowd in the 82nd minute, taking a masterful touch in the attacking third before curving a shot into the left corner of the net.

The late score proved insurmountable for the Terps, who remain winless in Big Ten play after a 2-1 loss to the Hoosiers Friday night in College Park.

“We just haven’t found our personality on the field yet. And it’s something that we want to keep going,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We’re seeing good things happen. We’re seeing players develop, progress. We’re seeing good efforts.”

The first half produced few high-quality opportunities for either team. Both defenses effectively directed attackers to the outer edges, permitting only crosses as a potential source of scoring opportunities.

While Indiana’s back line was coveted heading into the contest — having had conceded just eight goals — Maryland’s defense was also adept, effectively clearing the Hoosiers’ four first-half corner kicks.

The methodically-played opening 45 minutes saw Indiana garner the game’s first two corner kicks, but Maryland cleared the ball out of harms way both times. Offensively, the Terps faced challenges in maintaining prolonged possession and often found themselves pushed into the corners due to delayed decision-making.

“In the first half, we did not come out with the kind of menace, tenacity and energy required to set the tone,” Cirovski said.

The Terps also had some problems on goal kick distribution, with Mikah Seger either lofting balls out of bounds or sending them to the opposition.

Occasional hurried turnovers and clearing attempts by the Terps played into the Hoosiers’ strategy to conserve energy. Indiana often settled the ball along the backline before initiating another offensive advance.

While Indiana maintained possession for the greater part of the first half, the teams combined for just three total shots in the half.

Cirovski made a tactical decision to introduce Copetti at the beginning of the second half, creating a four-man attack to stimulate the offense.

The Terps had two fantastic opportunities in the first five minutes of the half, with Luke van Heukelum and midfielder Leon Keohl both sending close-range shots off target.

“I think you can see in little moments that we have quality,” midfielder Alex Nitzl said. “We can score goals and we can create chances for more goals.”

However, in the 54th minute, Indiana struck first. A lofted ball found its way into the box, where midfielder Patrick McDonald headed it behind him to forward Alex Barger, who headed it into the net.

Nearly 20 minutes later, Copetti equalized the score. The goal came after van Heukelum dribbled the entire length of the field before passing the ball to defender Brian St. Martin, who then crossed it into the box for Copetti.

“It shouldn’t kind of take a goal from the other team to push us to push for a goal,” Copetti said. “We’ve got a lot to learn from.”

The goal ignited the offense and allowed it to seize the momentum in the game. The Terps controlled the majority of the action in the attacking third, earning four corner kicks in the 10 minutes following their goal.

“I can surely say that we probably were the better team with better chances in the second half,” Cirovski said, “But once again, it’s the same old story for us. We come up a play short.”

With yet another conference loss — and just two games left in the season — Maryland’s season is slipping away.

“Right now we need some help from Michigan State on Tuesday to get ready for hopefully a meaningful game next Sunday,” Cirovski said.

Three things to know

1. First-half shortcomings for the Terps. Maryland’s first-half struggles were best described by the possession statistics, which showed Indiana controlled 60% of the total possession. In addition, the Terps spent 25% of their time with the ball in the defensive third compared to the Hoosiers’ 14%.

2. van Heukelum continues to shine. Despite playing just 63 minutes, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week provided energy to the Terps’ attack. Not only did his electrifying coast-to-coast rush and subsequent assist help to even the game, but he did all the little things on offense, chasing after balls and implementing physicality.

3. A late letdown. Sarver’s score in the final 10 minutes demoralized the Terps, who controlled the second half with seven shots and six corner kicks. Maryland will need to defeat Navy and Ohio State in its final two games of the regular season to keep its postseason hopes alive.