Strack's Take: Terps Stand Tall on B1G Stage
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The grass was paler, the trees barer, the wind icy and the Terrapins hot…as they have been for weeks.
The Terps (12-5-3) advanced Friday night, edging past Michigan State in penalty kicks, after 110 scoreless minutes, cementing a spot in the finals where they will vie for a championship in their first-ever Big Ten tournament. But it wasn't easy.
“I know this will go down as a tie but this certainly felt like a win because we played exceptionally well against one of the top teams in the country,” said Cirovski. “I thought our guys came out confident, aggressive and with a lot of quality, unfortunately we just couldn't find the back of the net.”
No. 1 seeded Maryland controlled possession throughout the first half, coming out attacking against a defensive-minded Spartan team. An Alex Crognale header off a Mikey Ambrose corner kick sailed a foot high of the net in the 3rd minute, the initial shot of seven compared the Michigan State's two in the first stanza.
The Terps surrendered an early goal in a 1-0 September loss to the Spartans, and consciously made sure to avoid a similar fate.
“We were very unhappy with the way the first game went in the early part of the game,” said the Maryland coach. “We certainly wanted to come out on the front foot and we did that.”
In the 58th minute, senior captain Dan Metzger stole the ball at midfield, pushing it up to Mael Corboz who found Alex Shinsky. The first team All-Big Ten honoree stormed between two Spartan defenders, getting off a shot with another on his hip. The try went wide of the far post as Crew members fell silent, head in hands.
In the final minute of regulation, Shinsky crossed a ball from the left side to a streaking Endoh who leaned forward, heading it high and burying his face in the ground out of disappointment.
“As soon as the game ended, he's the first guy I went to, to really encourage and to make sure he knew that we had his back and that we were going to find a way to win,” said Cirovski.
The junior from Japan would get another chance at the same point in the second overtime, launching a grounder from the right side wide of diving Spartan keeper Zach Bennett and the goal.
Thirteen Terrapin shots in the books to Michigan State's eight after 110 minutes, the run of play would prove all but obsolete as a pair of scoreless overtimes rendered penalty kicks the deciding method.
Corboz extended his perfect penalty kick streak this season with a grounder inside the left post. Maryland goalkeeper Zack Steffen then began to steal the show, diving to his right to save the Spartans' second attempt. Shinsky and Endoh converted on the next two Terrapin shots, and Steffen went back to work, diving to his left this time to put Maryland a shot away from the win.
Ambrose's try was saved but Michigan State forward Adam Montague would miss wide on his attempt as gold shirts rushed toward their lone teammate in goal.
“I read them,” said Steffen, when asked about his stellar saves in the 3-2 penalty kick advantage. “It's their body shape, the way they opened up their hips and closed their hips. I just had a good feeling.”
The Terps will play in their third consecutive conference tournament final Sunday afternoon against Indiana, who edged Ohio State, 2-1, in familiar territory. Even the last two semifinal games needed at least one overtime and last year, Maryland recovered to leave the ACC on top.
“It was disappointing, to be fair, that it went into overtime and it went into penalties,” said Cirovski. “I thought we deserved better, we had some high quality chances and hopefully we just save those for a future game.”
Despite the lack of scoring Friday, Cirovski noted how much the opportunity to play for the tournament crown means to his squad.
“It's a real honor this year with the way the season started, with being in a new conference, we had to learn our opponents,” he said, “and then to have the privilege to host it at Ludwig versus other parts of Maryland is pretty special so we're excited for Sunday.”
Ben Strack, a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
