COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland men's soccer team hoisted its first-ever Big Ten Championship trophy Wednesday night, defeating Rutgers, 3-2, to win the regular-season crown in its inaugural season in the conference.
The Terps (11-5-2, 5-2-1 Big Ten) won eight-consecutive matches to cap the regular season, surrendering a mere six goals during that span. Mael Corboz, a junior transfer from Rutgers, freshman George Campbell and junior David Kabelik scored goals to lead the Terps to the victory. Maryland has now won three-straight league regular-season titles dating back to its time as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Corboz's goal kicked off the festivities four minutes into the affair. Defender Jereme Raley took a ball down the far sideline and dished it to Alex Shinsky, who found Corboz on a run from the midfield for the first goal of the match. It was the midfielder's team-leading eighth goal of the season.
After Rutgers evened the score with a Rayon Gibbs goal in the 23rd minute, Campbell put the Terps back on top with a beautiful strike from 15 yards at 37:15.
Kabelik made it a 3-1 contest with a finish from eight yards after a fantastic feed from Shinsky from the 18 in the 73rd minute.
Rutgers scored one final tally with less than a minute to play but the Terps held on for the win.
Maryland outshot the Scarlet Knights 17-7 on the night.
“I couldn't be more proud of our team. They overcame tremendous adversity this season and their only choice was to stand up and play like champions and that's exactly what we did,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We showed true Maryland soccer spirit in all facets. The attention to detail has been great, the commitment has been excellent and the quality has come through.
“Special thanks to The Crew who played a huge role, not only in this win tonight at Rutgers, but all season long. We are looking forward to hosting quarterfinal action next weekend in front of our home crowd."
As the top seed in the upcoming Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship, Maryland hosts the play-in game featuring No. 8 Rutgers and No. 9 Wisconsin Saturday at 1 p.m. The Terps will take on the winner of that match in quarterfinal play Sunday at 1 p.m. at Ludwig. The semifinals and championship game will be held at the site of the top remaining seed Nov. 14 and 16.
