EVANSTON, Ill. – Freshman William James Herve leveled the match late in regulation before scoring a golden goal in the 95th minute to lift the Maryland men's soccer team past Northwestern Friday night at Martin Stadium.
The Terrapins (2-2-2, 1-0-0 Big Ten) dominated possession and held a 20-4 shot advantage for the match, but fell behind after a Camden Buescher stunner in the 61st minute. Herve's goals were his first two as a Terrapin.
"We deserved a victory," head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "I thought we played extremely well in the first half and were unlucky not to get a goal out of it. They scored a wonder goal in the second half and we had to find some resolve to equalize, which we did. I thought we showed great character. This is another good character building win for this group."
The Terps had virtually all of the possession in the first 45 minutes but could not find the breakthrough despite outshooting the Wildcats, 8-0. In the 17th minute, sophomore Eric Matzelevich had the ball on the byline with an open net after a miscue by the goalkeeper, but shot wise. The center forward, along with Herve and senior Amar Sejdic all had solid efforts in the opening 45.
The second half saw the Terps continue to control play. However, after a solid stretch of play, Northwestern capitalized in the 61st minute. The sensational volley from Buescher was a bullet from 15 yards out that Terps' keeper Dayne St. Clair never had a chance to stop.
From there, the Terps battled for the leveler and found it in the 84th minute. Junior Johannes Bergmann lifted a long ball that Matzelevich nodded into the path of Herve, who used the outside of his boot to tuck his effort inside the far post. It was the France native's first goal in a Maryland uniform.
The only major piece of action in the first overtime period was Herve's winner. Senior Andrew Samuels made a driving run through the middle and sent a pass that pin-balled between senior Sebastian Elney, a Northwestern defender and Herve. That ball eventually found Elney, who touched the ball into the path of Herve before the freshman slotted home through the keeper's legs.
Bergmann, Samuels and fellow defender Donovan Pines were virtually spotless outside of the goal. The Terps also received a solid late shift from freshman Brett St. Martin.
Maryland returns to action Monday at Ludwig Field. William & Mary is in town with kickoff set for 7 p.m., on BTN Plus.
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