Strack's Take: Seeking a November to Remember
11/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The year's first November night brought a windy chill and a bevy of Terrapin chances to convert a scoreboard stalemate to the type of game it truly was. It took 74 minutes, but Maryland revealed their dominance with one goal Saturday night, enough to edge Ohio State, 1-0, and win their seventh in a row.
With 16 minutes left in the game, Tsubasa Endoh's arching boot found Kabelik's head, popping up high in the autumn air. Gravity brought it back to captain Dan Metzger, bumping it forward to Alex Crognale who then kicked it on net. Freshman George Campbell redirected it on its way to tally his second goal of the season and archive the eventual game-winner.
The Terps (10-5-2, 4-2-1 in Big Ten) controlled the play throughout, beating Buckeyes to free balls, collecting plentiful free kick opportunities and putting pressure on the opposing goalkeeper all night. Even with no goals to show for it by halftime, the captain remained calm.
“For the most part we just tried to stay positive,” said Metzger. “We knew we were going to get one as long as we kept the energy high and kept the momentum going with us.”
In the 57th minute, Endoh's dart from about 25 yards whizzed past a leaping Alex Ivanov, colliding with the crossbar and ricocheting as quickly as it came.
“That could have been the goal of the year had that gone in,” said head coach Sasho Cirovski. “I was ready to jump out of my shoes I think…it was oh so close.”
The play perfectly displayed much of Maryland's night, an evening in which the team's six seniors were honored in the last regular-season home game of the year.
Outshooting Ohio State 13-4, the Buckeyes (7-6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) didn't notch a shot until the 69th minute. Rather, they sat back looking to counter, unsuccessfully on this night.
The Terps served up 10 balls from the flags compared to Ohio State's four corner tries to no avail until Campbell was in the right place in the midst of the pivotal scramble in the box.
With seniors Metzger, Alex Shinsky, Mikias Eticha and Jereme Raley on the pitch for a combined 351 minutes, Campbell temporarily stole the show in one moment of just 14 total minutes.
“The whole team believes in George and he's really coming on now,” said Shinsky. “It's a big-time goal for us tonight, the whole team will relish in that and we'll have to, I don't even know, we'll give him a hug when we back to the locker room.”
The win not only extends the Terps' streak to seven games, but puts Maryland in second place in the conference standings. After jumping the Buckeyes with the victory, Penn State is the only team higher in the standings. The Nittany Lions play Northwestern tomorrow with a chance to clinch the Big Ten regular-season title.
But the Terps are focused in house, according to the team's legendary coach, and they are hitting their stride at the perfect time.
“We always say that we want to be good in September; this year we weren't that good in September,” said Cirovski. “We want to be better in October and we want to be great in November and this is a great start.”
Ben Strack, a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
