No. 10 Maryland men’s soccer falls to No. 1 Ohio State, 2-1, in regular season finale

Weeks ago, it seemed likely Maryland men’s soccer’s regular season would end with it hoisting the Big Ten regular season trophy on Ludwig Field. The trophy was hoisted at Ludwig Field Sunday afternoon — but the Terps were the spectators.

“We take a lot of pride in protecting Ludwig and obviously seeing [No. 1 Ohio State’s celebration] is not a great sight, but definitely something we’ll remember,” Max Rogers said.

The Terps failed to overcome two first-half goals, falling to the Buckeyes, 2-1, to close their regular season.

Maryland, who has been without its most important player in Leon Koehl, was even more depleted against Ohio State. Its defensive anchor, William Kulvik, missed the match, likely due to the head collision he sustained at the end of its last match against Rutgers. If that wasn’t enough, head coach Sasho Cirovski was serving a suspension for the red card he received against Rutgers.

The undermanned Terps started strong, though, applying pressure that caused Ohio State’s back four some issues. The Terps generated offensive chances throughout the first 15 minutes, but couldn’t find the net.

Ohio State won a set piece around midfield with 30 minutes remaining in the first half. Its most dangerous playmaker, Michael Adedokun, played a ball into Maryland’s box that Siggi Magnusson played back across the middle for Thomas Gilej, who then tapped it in.

Against the run of play, Maryland found itself down, 1-0. The game remained high-paced and appeared open for both teams to find the second goal.

Maryland almost had a chance to even the score when Sadam Masereka went down in the box, but the referee judged there was not enough contact for a spot kick after a review.

Instead, with around 11 minutes left in the half, Maryland’s deficit doubled. Adedokun picked up the ball on Maryland’s goal line and beat a man. Jace Clark made a tackle, but the ball bounced back in Adedokun’s path and he found Ashton Bilow for an easy tap-in.

The Terps generated more chances in the final 10 minutes of the half, but couldn’t find the net. They went to the break trailing, 2-0.

“Goals change games, but I thought we played very well in the first half. I thought we could have shown a bit more quality in our chances to score, but the guys executed how we wanted them to,” acting head coach Brian Rowland said.

In the second half, the Terps’ luck quickly took a turn for the better.

Rogers had a free kick from the right sideline and surprisingly decided to go for goal. The decision paid off, as Ohio State backup goalie Patrick McLaughlin spilled the shot for a rebound that fell to Luca Costabile, who drilled his first goal as a Terp to pull Maryland within one.

“Great feeling,” Costabile said. “[It’s] been three years now, long wait.”

The Terps had around 40 minutes to find an equalizer — and it was chaotic.

Colin Griffith teed off shots with space from inside the box on two occasions, but Ohio State’s back line made multiple crucial blocks to keep the game at 2-1. Clark also shined in relief of Kulvik, making key defensive interventions to prevent Maryland from conceding a third goal.

Ultimately, the score remained 2-1, with Maryland heading into the postseason on a three-game losing streak.

Three things to know

1. A not-so-bad loss. Many coaches will say there are no good losses. But if Ohio State was a measuring stick for how far Maryland can go in the postseason, it played well without its head coach and two of its best players.

“That was a very, very good soccer team,” Rogers said. “It didn’t feel like they were head and shoulders better than us.”

2. Big Ten tournament seed finalized. The Terps will be the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and play either Washington or UCLA in the first round on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. They will need to win three games to win the tournament.

3. Set-piece defense remains an issue. Maryland has struggled with its defense on set pieces all season. This issue reared its head again on Ohio State’s opening goal, as Maryland failed to win the ball twice in the box.