COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland men's soccer defeated Long Island in a thriller, 5-2, in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Ludwig Field on Thursday. The Terps scored four second-half goals to earn their victory. The Terps five goals tied the program record for the most goals in an NCAA Tournament match. It marked the seventh time the Terps had scored five goals in a match, the last happening against Fairleigh Dickinson back on Nov. 17, 2022.
Maryland (9-5-5) advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, where it will face No. 8 seed Wake Forest. The match will be held at Spry Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 24, and will start at 6 p.m.
Sadam Masereka scored the go-ahead goal in the 67th minute, in the top left side of the net. It was the NAIA transfers' fourth of the season.
Luca Costabile then scored in the 73rd minute. The score was his second of the season, and
Max Riley was credited with the assist, his second of 2024. Serving as the dagger, Masereka found
Max Rogers for the Terps' fifth goal of the night in the 84th minute. The score was Rogers' third of the season.
Leon Koehl supplied the game-tying score at 2-2 in the 66th minute off a penalty kick Masereka drew from within the box. Koehl has converted all seven penalty kick opportunities during the season and leads the Terps with seven goals. The last Terp to go a perfect 7-of-7 on penalty kicks was Patrick Mullins in 2013, who went 9-for-9 that season. Masereka and Koehl scored their goals within 1:35 of one another.
Alex Nitzl scored the opening goal in only three minutes of play, sending a shot off his right foot to the left side of the net. It was the graduate student's first career goal in his 70th career game.
Papa Sow scored in the 47th minute to give Long Island a brief 2-1 lead, and Stephanie Nijike scored the equalizer at 1-1 in the 43rd minute.
The Terps defeated the Sharks after losing their last head-to-head meeting in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Long Island (8-5-7) was eliminated from the postseason.
Coach Cirovski's Take
"Im absolutely delighted with the team's performance tonight. It's toughness, resilience and quality. Really good to see the Maryland soccer team back today. I felt our team needed to rest, recover and get refreshed after the grueling stretch of the last two weeks of the season, and tonight we saw a team that had its legs and more importantly, had its heart back in the right place."
Luca Costabile On The Team's Mindset After Long Island's Second Goal
"In those situations it was important for us to take a second and gather ourselves," Costabile said. "We felt like in the first half we were playing really good football. But the message for us when we came in after that second goal was like coach said, there was a lot of time and that we were playing well, and needed to trust each other and the game plan."
The XI
Breaking Down The Action
- Colin Griffith attempted a low left-side shot in the first minute of play that went just wide of an opening goal for Maryland.
- Alex Nitzl scored the Terps' first goal two minutes later, cleaning up a blocked shot and putting it past the Long Island goalkeeper into the net.
- Max Rogers had a free-kick opportunity in the sixth minute that was saved on net.
- Long Island had a possession in the 10th minute that saw a shot get blocked and another time sail high off the top of the net.
- In the 17th minute, Sadam Masereka found Griffith in the box for a shot that missed just the top net.
- In the 34th minute, the Terps were on the attack, resulting in a corner and free-kick opportunity that led to near-goal-scoring plays.
- The Sharks tied the game two minutes before the half off a rebound that saw players scrambling for possession.
- Long Island took a 2-1 lead in the 47th minute.
- Leon Kohel tied the game in the 66th minute off a penalty kick goal.
- Less than two minutes later, Masereka reclaimed a one-goal lead for the Terps.
- Luca Costabile sent a moon shot from outside the box to extend the Terps lead to 4-2 in the 73rd minute.
- Masereka dished out a nice pass to Max Rogers for Maryland's final goal of the game in the 84th minute.
Maryland's NCAA History
- Maryland is playing in its 41st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. It has also been in the tournament in 23 of the last 24 years.
- Maryland is now 62-32-8 all-time in its 102 NCAA Tournament games.
- Sasho Cirvovski coached in his 31st NCAA Tournament, an NCAA record for most tourneys coached in, with 29 at Maryland and two at Hartford. He is now 51-23-7 overall.
- Under Cirovski, the Terps are now 49-21-7 in the NCAA Tournament. The Terrapins have won three national titles under him (2005, 2008, 2018).
- The Terps have won four national titles overall, including their first in 1968. They've also reached the round of 16 in 19 of the last 29 years.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Alex Nitzl scored his first career goal.
- 2: Luca Costabile scored his second goal of the season.
- 2: Max Riley dished out his second assist of the season.
- 3: Max Rogers scored his third goal of the season.
- 4: The Terps netted four second-half goals.
- 4: Sadam Masereka has four goals this season.
- 7: Leon Koehl scored his seventh goal of the season. He's now gone 7-for-7 on penalty kicks this season. His seven goals also lead the team.
- 10: Maryland has picked up its tenth victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament under head coach Sasho Cirvovski.
- 23: Maryland has been in the NCAA Tournament in 23 of the last 24 years.
- 41: This was Maryland's 41st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Up Next
- Maryland will face No. 8 seed Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The match will be held at Spry Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 24, at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
