No. 19 Maryland (4-1-3, 2-0-0 Big Ten) at Northwestern (5-3-0, 0-2-0 Big Ten)
September 27, 2024
Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium
8:00Â p.m. ET
B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MDÂ --Â The Maryland men's soccer team plays its second consecutive road game in Big Ten play as it travels to Evanston to face Northwestern. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on B1G+.
The Terrapins played in their first of two road conference games on Sept. 20 picking up a 1-0 win over Indiana. Play was suspended in the 69:40 mark due to inclement weather on Friday, Sept. 20, with the game restarting Saturday, Sept. 21. Leon Koehl's 40th minute PK goal was the difference in the victory, giving the sophomore three penalty kick goals on the season. Laurin Mack set a career-high with five saves and picked up his second consecutive clean sheet to start conference play.
Scouting the Wildcats
- Northwestern enters the contest with a 5-3 record after dropping a road contest against new Big Ten member Washington, 2-0. Goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de León kept the Wildcats in striking distance, tying a career-high with five saves. After falling behind, Northwestern's Akinjide Awujo had a chance at the near post, but the effort was saved by the Washington keeper. Ponce de León kept the score at 1-0 in the 70th minute, as he parried away a shot for a Huskies attacker. Washington added their second goal in the 86th minute to bring the game to the 2-0 scoreline.
- A group of eight Wildcats are tied for the team lead with one goal apiece. In the assist category, a trio of three players are tied for the team lead, with Italo Addimandi, Bryant Mayer, and Jayvin van Deventer tied with two assists each.
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Ponce de León leads the Wildcats in goal, as the junior has 14 saves and a GAA of 0.75. Ponce de León's GAA leads the Big Ten and ranks 21st nationally. Ponce de Leónis has three clean sheets on the campaign, which is the 24th-most in the nation and tied for second in the Big Ten.
Series History - Northwestern
- This will be the 14th all-time meeting between the two programs, with the series beginning when Maryland moved to the Big Ten in 2014. The Terps hold the slight advantage over the Wildcats with a record of 7-4-2. The two programs met last season in College Park, with Northwestern winning 2-0.
- The game remained scoreless for the first 40 minutes, until Northwestern got on the board just before halftime. The Terps created a chance just a minute later, but it was saved by the Wildcats' goalkeeper. Northwestern would get its second goal in the 53rd minute to take a two goal lead. The Terps created three separate chances in the final ten minutes, with the Northwestern keeper making two saves and one of the shots hitting the crossbar.
Kalm, Koehl, Kollected
- Sophomore Leon Koehl leads the Terps three goals this season, with them all coming from the penalty spot. Koehl's effectiveness from the spot is much appreciated for the Terps, after the squad failed to convert on all four of their opportunities in 2023.
- Koehl becomes the first Terp to have three or more penalty kick goals in a single-season since 2022, when Malcolm Johnston converted on four penalty kicks. Koehl's three penalty kick goals leads the Big Ten and is tied for the third-most nationally.
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Koehl scored from the spot in consecutive games for the Terps, with penalty kick goals against Virginia on Sept. 2 against Virginia and Sept. 6 against Brown. Koehl also joins Johnston, who scored penalty kick goals in consecutive games in the 2022 season vs. Virginia on Sept. 5, 2022 and at Georgetown on Sept. 10 2022.
So Fresh and So Clean
- Goalkeeper Laurin Mack has started Big Ten play with consecutive clean sheets. Mack picked up his second shutout in Maryland's 1-0 win over Indiana and set a new career-high with five saves.
- It marked the first time that a Maryland goalkeeper had back-to-back clean sheets since 2022, when Jamie Lowell registered shutouts against Ohio State (Sept. 25, 2022) and Old Dominion (9/30/2022). It also marked the first time a Maryland goalkeeper had consecutive clean sheets against conference opponents since the 2021 season.
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It was also the first time a Terp goalkeeper had consecutive clean sheets in conference play since the 2021 season, when Niklas Neumann shutout Indiana on Oct. 31, 2021 and Northwestern on Nov. 7, 2021.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
- Yale transfer Max Rogers has been a crucial part of Maryland's offensive effort. Rogers currently has five assists on the campaign, which is tied for the 11th-most in the Big Ten and tied for the fourth-most in the nation.
- Rogers had a hand in all three goals for the Terps in their conference-opening win over Wisconsin on Sept. 20. Rogers got his first assist in the game in the 17th minute, whipping a corner kick into the box to set up Chris Steinleitner for his first goal in a Maryland uniform. His second assist came just after halftime, delivering a free kick to the back-post for Bjarne Thiesen to double the Terps lead at 2-0. Rogers' final assist came in the 53rd minute, finding Colin Griffith in space for a shot just outside of the box.
- It marked the second consecutive season a Terps player had three assists in a game, with Luke van Heukelum picking up three assists in Maryland's win over Villanova on Oct. 10, 2023.
Max Rogers leads the Terps with five assists on the season. That total is tied for second-most in the Big Ten and the 11th-most nationally.
Going Back-to-Back
- With a 53rd minute goal in Maryland's 3-0 win over Wisconsin, Colin Griffith scored in his second consecutive game. Griffith scored the lone goal in Maryland's 1-1 draw with San Diego State on Sept. 9.
- This was the second time in his career that Griffith scored in consecutive games. Griffith last scored goals in back-to-back games on Nov. 4, 2022, against Northwestern and Nov. 9, 2022, against Indiana.
Griffith had his second consecutive game with a goal in Maryland's 3-0 win over Wisconsin. This marked the second time in his career that Griffith had back-to-back games with a goal, which occurred Nov. 4, 2022, against Northwestern and Nov. 9, 2022, against Indiana.
