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University of Maryland Athletics

Eric Matzelevich
0
Iona ION (14-6-1, 6-3-1)
4
Winner Maryland UMD (11-7-2, 3-3-2)
Iona ION
(14-6-1, 6-3-1)
0
Final
4
Maryland UMD
(11-7-2, 3-3-2)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Iona ION 0 0 0
Maryland UMD 1 3 4

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Terps Throttle Iona, Advance to NCAA Tournament Second Round

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland men's soccer team tallied three second half goals in a 4-0 victory over Iona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at Ludwig Field.

The XI
Niklas Neumann (GK)
Matt Di Rosa (LB), Johannes Bergmann (LCB), Brett St. Martin (RCB), Ben Di Rosa (RB)
Nick Richardson (CM), Eli Crognale (CM), Malcolm Johnston (CAM)
Justin Harris (LW), Eric Matzelevich (CF), Justin Gielen (RW)

View From The Box
  • The Terps did the job Thursday night, controlling the flow of the contest for most of the 90 minutes. The second half was a Maryland show, as the Terps dominated the Gales en route to their three tallies in the half.
  • Maryland's first goal of the match came in the opening half off the head of sophomore Justin Gielen. In the 20th minute, junior Matt Di Rosa served an out swinging ball into the box that Gielen snapped into the side netting for his fourth goal of the season.
  • After the first 15 minutes of the first half, in which the Gaels controlled the run of play, the Terps were on the front foot. Maryland notched nine shots and came close on a few occasions to getting a second goal.
  • The goals flowed in the second half as Maryland tallied in the 65th, 72nd and 81st minutes to seal the victory. Junior Eric Matzelevich started it off with a beautiful strike from 25 yards out to the top right corner, a highlight reel goal that made it 2-0.
  • Malcolm Johnston's goal in the 73rd minute was a bit of clean-up work after a fine piece of play. A free kick from the Terps half was flicked on by Gielen into the box to Johnston who headed into the path of Luke Brown. Brown's right-footed effort was parried right into the path of Johnston who slid the ball into the back of the net. It was Johnston's fourth goal of the season.
  • Brown got in on the act in the 82nd minute. Mike Heitzmann drew a penalty after being shoved down attacking a ball at the back post. Brown coolly finished his spot kick to score his first goal in a Terrapin shirt.
  • The Terps notched their seventh straight clean sheet in the NCAA Tournament and have not given up a goal in their last 659 minutes of tournament play dating back to 2017. Freshman Niklas Neumann only had to make three stops and was rarely put under pressure.
  • Sophomore center back Brett St. Martin departed after 12 minutes due to injury, which forced freshman walk-on Chris Rindov into action. The Rockville native put in a steady shift next to senior Johannes Bergmann in the Terps' back line.
  • The Di Rosa brothers were consistently dangerous on the flanks, with Matt almost scoring a spectacular long range goal in the second half.
From the Boss
"I thought we grew into the game and certainly were the worthy winners. Our guys had a great response from our last effort. We had our legs. We had the quality to put a lot of pressure on them. I'm delighted to get the result and move on in the tournament." – Sasho Cirovski

Next Up
Maryland will travel to face fourth-seeded Wake Forest Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. Coverage can be found on ACC Network Extra and WMUC Sports.
 
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