Strack's Take: One B1G Moment
11/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Three conference titles in a row. Two goals needed to make it so. One Big Ten tournament championship in the books for the conference's newest foe.
In other words, No. 1 seeded Maryland edged sixth-seeded Indiana, 2-1, Sunday afternoon to extend their unbeaten streak to eleven games and hoist a trophy no Maryland team has hoisted before. Mael Corboz, who the Terps have leaned on all season for offensive production, cranked the decider in the 86th minute off a 25-yard free kick.
“Our guys had to dig deep to bring their championship fiber out of them,” said Cirovski. “We all had to deal with adversity, and to come through as champions is another testament to the culture of this program.”
Dig deep indeed, as Indiana seemed to have control of the game early on, spewing some dangerous crosses in Maryland territory. The fatigue of 110 minutes of action 36 hours ago was also a hurdle for his players, according to the Terrapins coach.
In the 21st minute, Indiana's Jamie Vollmer fired an inbounds dart over everyone packed in the goal box, finding teammate Andrew Oliver's leg on a fly, as if it had eyes. The junior forward guided a bullet on net from 10 yards out as Maryland's Zach Steffen leaped, ricocheting the try high before the crossbar or mesh could meet its match.
Outnumbered in scoring opportunities throughout the first half, the Terps would nevertheless strike first with three minutes remaining. Back-to-back Maryland corner kicks led to Indiana clearing the ball, but Mikey Ambrose would get it back, lofting a cross to a clump of white and gold jerseys.
After hitting the head of captain Dan Metzger, the scrum began and defender Chris Odoi-Atsem poked it free to an open Chris Wallander-Ianev, who booted it home. It was the Swedish freshman's first goal of the year, making him the 12th Terp to score this season.
“I'm really proud of him,” said Cirovski. “He's one of the guys that stays after training and really works on his own and has constantly been ready for that moment.”
But the Hoosiers would even it up in the 64th minute after Indiana goalkeeper Colin Webb's kick helped Oliver find some space to streak toward the net. Junior defender Ambrose hindered his path as the ball squirted forward, Oliver still in pursuit. Metzger, in a full-sprint effort to break up the play, inadvertently put it past Steffen for an own goal to knot up the contest.
But then came the 86th minute, and David Kabelik looked to feed freshman Jeroen Meefout who was tripped en route toward the net. This set up a free kick, and Corboz ran over to get the ball, telling teammate Tsubasa Endoh that he wanted to take it.
“It's something that we work on continuously and that Mael works on continuously,” said Cirovski, “so I think there was a large aura of confidence when he stepped up to that ball that something special could happen…and it did.”
The junior transfer's poise was evident as he curled the ball over a wall of defenders in the top left corner, instinctively scurrying to the end line where the most raucous section of the 2,272 in attendance was testing the bleachers' durability.
“To be honest I had no idea what to do,” said a smiling Corboz, who received the tournament's offensive MVP accolade. “I just saw the Crew and I ran to them and just started grabbing the net and shaking it.”
Cirovski compared Corboz's strike to Graham Zusi's goal in the 2008 semifinals, adding another remarkable moment to the long list of success in the 22-year coach's tenure.
Steffen, who was awarded the tournament's defensive Most Valuable Player, said the team set out for three things, and two of them have been achieved. Claiming the conference regular season and first Big Ten tournament title in Maryland history, all they can do now is focus on the next stage.
The NCAA tournament bracket and seeding will be released Monday at 1 p.m., and the Terps will enter as one of the hottest teams, far off where it seemed they would be 10 games into the season.
“We had a tough start this year and we had some real tough, honest conversations and we were challenged and we've all responded very well,” said Cirovski. “We're ready for the first game in the NCAA Tournament.”
Ben Strack, a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
