COLLEGE PARK, MD – No 12. Maryland men's soccer tied Penn State 1-1 on Tuesday at Ludwig Field. The Terps remain undefeated in Big Ten play, sitting at 5-1-4 overall and 3-0-1 in conference action.
Maryland scored first in the 56th minute with a goal by Colin Griffith, assisted by freshman Aidan Sheppela. The goal was the junior forward's fourth of the season, giving him scores in four of his last five contests. The score also set a personal single-season career-high, surpassing Griffith's three goals as a freshman in 2022. The assist was the first of Sheppela's career.
However, Penn State (4-5-1, 1-2-1 Big Ten) promptly tied the game six minutes later with a direct free-kick goal by Caden Grabfelder. Neither team could net the go-ahead goal in the final 34 minutes of action.
Freshman goalkeeper Laurin Mack made two saves to up his total through nine outings to 23.
The Terps outshot the Nittany Lions 20-7. They also forced them to commit more fouls (11) than shots, as the defensive unit of
Luca Costabile,
Alex Nitzl,
Bjarne Thiesen and
William Kulvik created problems for Penn State's offense.
Cirvoski's Take
"Overall, I thought we played well, and we're in control of the game," Head Coach
Sasho Cirovski said. "We certainly created enough opportunities to get more than one goal. And from that standpoint, it's disappointing to get a tie out of this game. Penn State's a good team, and they've got a few set-piece specialists, and that's one area that we wanted to make sure we minimized, and full credit to their number 11 with a terrific shot to get the equalizer."
Griffith On His Recent Success
"I think I'm just taking more quality shots, focusing a little more when I'm shooting. I was getting in good spaces, but I wasn't really striking the ball with enough quality. So now I'm striking it little better, and the goals are coming."
The XI
Breaking Down The Action
- Maryland had a deflection on net that the Penn State goalkeeper saved in the seventh minute.
- In the 21st minute, Colin Griffith kicked a nice shot to the low left post that was just off.
- The Terps created a nice dump-in opportunity in the 34th minute, leading to a close-range shot by Matias De Jesus that was blocked.
- Penn State responded with its first shot on goal less than a minute later, which was saved by goalkeeper Laurin Mack.
- The Terps nearly took the lead in the 38th minute. A scramble for the ball led to two-shot opportunities that nearly went in the back of the net.
- Maryland began the first two minutes of the second half with two corner kicks, which led to multiple scoring chances that were just wide of the net.
- The Nittany Lions nearly scored on a break-away, but Mack made a splitting save to deny the shot in the 51st minute.
- Griffith put the Terps ahead in the 55th minute, making a series of nice moves to freeze the defenders and putting the ball to the bottom right side of the net.
- Penn State tied the game six minutes later off a free-kick goal directly to the net.
- Jace Clark nearly broke the tie in the 11th minute with a header on goal. But the Penn State goalkeeper rose up to deflect the ball over the net.
- Maryland's last opportunity occurred with 19 seconds remaining. Max Rogers sent a free-kick chance in that Clark nearly headed into the goal. But Penn State's goalie once again made the stop.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Aidan Sheppela earned his first career assist.
- 4: Colin Griffith scored his fourth goal of the season. He has also scored in four of his last five outings.
- 8: Maryland is unbeaten in their past eight games, going 5-0-3 overall.
- 23: Laurin Mack has 23 saves through nine games.
Up Next
- The Terps host Michigan State at Ludwig Field on Oct. 5. The match starts at 7:30 p.m. and will air on B1G+ and WMUC Radio.
