COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland netted two first half goals to knock off No. 14 Cal State Fullerton 2-0 at Ludwig Field Saturday night. The win moves the Terrapins to 6-3-1 on the season while Fullerton drops to 8-2-1.
The victory is the second win over a ranked team this year for the Terps after previously defeating No. 9 St. John's September 23.
Maryland came out of the gates pressing in the opening minutes, getting some early attempts on net in the first half. Maryland drew a penalty kick in the 21st minute after Malcolm Johnston was taken down in the box.
Eli Crognale stepped in to take the ensuing penalty and buried it past the outstretched keeper to the left side of the goal to give the Terps a 1-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Maryland added to its lead after a free kick from the left wing made its way into the box. After a Cal State Fullerton defender failed to clear the ball away, Johnston got a handle on the loose ball and powered it over the line to make it 2-0.
The Titans had two quality looks in the opening half, but goalkeeper Niklas Neumann made a pair of diving saves to keep the visitors scoreless. The Kassel, Germany native finished with five saves total on the night to earn the shutout, Maryland's sixth of the season.
Maryland took care of business in the second half, disrupting and threatening looks from the Titan offense to allow just three shots on frame.
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From The Boss
"I'm delighted with the performance and I am very pleased that we got the victory tonight against a very good Fullerton team. I thought from start to end it was one of our better performances of the year. It is very clear that my players like the new lights because they seem to like to score finally. So I am very happy about that. I thought we got a lot of very good play all over the field. I thought collectively our team defending was outstanding. Niklas [Neumann] came up with a couple of key plays at the right time at the end of the first half and in the second half he was in the right spot which was important but also why we left a couple of goals on the table as well. Very good result against a top 20 team. Overall a good night." – Sasho Cirovski
From the Boys
"We were really happy with it. I thought we did well from start to finish. We got a two good goals in the first half and I thought we competed really well in the second half. We are proud of how far we have come as a team and closing out the first half of the season really well, we thought it was just solid all the way through." – Ben Di Rosa
Up Next
Maryland will head to East Lansing, Michigan to face Michigan State for the squad's second Big Ten road contest of the season on October 11. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 pm.
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