WESTFIELD, Ind. – Sophomore Ben Di Rosa scored his first career goal in the 72nd minute, but the fifth-seeded Maryland men's soccer ultimately fell in penalty kicks to top-seeded Indiana and were eliminated in the Big Ten Semifinals Friday afternoon at Grand Park.
The Terrapins (8-6-4) opened the match on the back foot to the Hoosiers, but took control of the match after Di Rosa's tally and had multiple chances to win the contest in regulation. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair finished with four saves.
"I'm disappointed we didn't advance, but I was very proud of how our team responded after a poor start to the game," head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "I thought after they scored we raised the level. We were very good. Indiana's a terrific team. I thought our team did a good job in the back, but we tip our hat to Indiana."
Maryland's best chance early came in the 11th minute when Paul Bin got free on the right flank and send a cross in to Sebastian Elney, whose shot from 10 yards out was blocked. In the 36th minute, William James Herves saw his left-footed effort hit off a defender and off the cross bar.
Freshman Vincius Lansade and sophomore Eric Matzelevich gave the Terps a lift when they entered in the 27th minute. Lansade was particularly bright in the attack and played one of his best games of the season over his 63 minutes on the pitch.
Indiana opened the second half well and took the lead on a solo run and finish from Andrew Gutman in the 61st minute. The Terps' tally came on a great piece of play through the center of the field. After a throw in in their own half, Paul Bin received the ball in the center circle and slid it to Herve, who chipped a well weighted pass to Di Rosa streaking down the right channel. As Bin held the defender with a charging run into the box, Di Rosa took a good first touch and then slotted the ball past Trey Muse to the back post for the first goal of his career.
The goal sparked the Terps, who were inches away from taking the lead in 76th minute. Lansade sent a great ball in on a corner, which freshman Brett St. Martin headed towards goal, only for it to be blocked off the line by an Indiana defender.
Freshman Brayan Padilla had the best chance of the final minutes. In the 84th minute, Matzelevich got free and had a two-on-one with one defender and Padilla. The sophomore slipped the ball past the defender and into the path of Padilla, who couldn't get enough on his close range effort to beat Muse.
After an even first overtime, the Terps used some sensational effort defending to get them to penalty kicks. Sophomore Matt Di Rosa was fantastic throughout the match, playing left back, defensive center midfield and left center back. Senior Chase Gasper also returned from injury and put in a good 50-minute shift at left back. Junior Johannes Bergmann was good in his 93 minutes of action.
In the shootout, senior Amar Sejdic, who played well throughout the match, beat Muse to give the Terps a 1-0 lead. After an Indiana make, Gasper was true on his take to make it 2-1. St. Clair gave the Terps the advantage when he denied Rece Buckmaster.
The Terps could not capitalize as Mike Heitzmann and Lansade were denied surrounded by two Indiana makes. In the fifth round, Bergmann made his spot kick to tie the shootout at 3-3, but Cory Thomas barely beat St. Clair to give the Hoosiers the 4-3 win.
Maryland will now await its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday. The selection show is set for 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.
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