Sept. 23, 2008
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Sept. 23, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The No. 2 Maryland men's soccer team started early and held once again, outlasting American, 4-0, on Tuesday night at Ludwig Field in non-conference action.
Maryland opened up play by scoring early for the third straight game when Doug Rodkey fired a shot at American keeper Matt Makowski in the third minute which rebounded to Casey Townsend who collected the ball and sent it sailing past Makowski to his left for the first score of the game.
Townsend didn't waste any time notching his fourth goal of the season. A minute later, the freshman sent a lofty strike into the back of the net to give Maryland a 2-0 lead before the game hit the five-minute mark. Jeremy Hall was credited with the assist in the play.
Omar Gonzalez, the 2007 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, got offensive for the second game in a row when he muscled thru the Eagle defense to the top of the box for a mid-range score. The goal was served up by a Matt Kassel corner kick which was redirected by Rodney Wallace. For Kassel, the assist is his team-leading fifth of the year.
The youth continued to shine for the Terps as freshman Matt Oduaran registered his first career goal in the 29th minute. Oduaran posted up in the middle as fellow classmate Alex Lee brought the ball down the near sideline. Lee tapped the ball to Wallace who picked up his second assist of the game when he dished it to Oduaran for the score. The goal solidified Maryland's highest scoring production since a 4-1 rout against Davidson back on Sept. 7 and the Terps largest margin of victory in the 2008 campaign.
"It was a good complete performance tonight," head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "We started out extremely well."
Maryland has now out-shot their opponent in all seven contests with a 17-4 advantage over the Eagles on Tuesday night. Zac MacMath, who was the keeper of record in Maryland's other four-goal outburst this season, won his second game of 2008 but was kept relatively unoccupied as the Eagles managed only two shots on goal.
"It was nice to get a lot of players' opportunities to play," Cirovski said. "Now we are looking forward to Friday."
Maryland now sets their sights on No. 1 Wake Forest as the Demon Deacons pay a visit to Ludwig Field on Friday night in the highly-anticipated ACC showdown between the top two teams in the nation. Game time is slated for 8 p.m.
