No. 19 Maryland (5-1-3, 3-0-0 Big Ten) vs Penn State (4-5-0, 1-2-0 Big Ten)
October 1, 2024
Ludwig Field
6:00Â p.m. ET
BTN
COLLEGE PARK, MDÂ --Â The No. 19 Maryland men's soccer team returns to College Park for a two-game home stand, starting by hosting Penn State on Oct. 1. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Maryland capped its second of two road games with a 2-1 win over Northwestern. Maryland opened the scoring in the 12th minute, as Leon Koehl converted his fourth PK of the season. The Terrapins got back on the scoresheet seven minutes later, as Colin Griffith finished a backheel pass from Luca Costabile to double the lead. Northwestern pulled a goal back in the 64th minute, as Christopher Thaggard made it a 2-1 game. Despite Northwestern outshooting the Terps 9-2 in the second half, the Terps preserved the road win. With the win, the Terps got their first 3-0 start in Big Ten play.
Scouting the Nittany Lions
- Penn State enters the contest with a 4-5 record after getting a 2-1 win over St. John's on the road. The Nittany Lions came back with a pair of second half goals to pull off the road victory. Matthew Henderson tied the game, as the junior scored from the corner for an Olimpico. Five minutes later, Henderson found Michael Hewes in the box, who put his shot past the St. John's keeper for the match-winner.
- Henderson leads the Nittany Lions, as the defender has three goals on the campaign. Christian Dionne leads the team with three assists on the year, which is tied for the eighth-most in the Big Ten.
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A pair of goalkeepers have featured for the Nittany Lions in 2024. Andrew Cooke has started in goal for six games, making 24 saves in front of goal. Fredrick Grundin has made three starts for Penn State this season, winning all three of his starts and producing a GAA of 0.67.
Series History - Penn State
- This will be the 54th all-time meeting between the two programs, with the first meeting in the series coming all the way back in 1948. The Terps hold the advantage in the series with a record of 25-22-6. The Nittany Lions got the last meeting between the two programs in 2023, taking a 1-0 win in State College.
- It was a tightly contested affair, as both teams remained fairly quiet through the first 35 minutes. Penn State capitalized on a Maryland giveaway in the 39th minute, as Peter Mangione scored the goal which would be the difference in the game. Stephen Copetti had a chance in the 55th minute, but his shot would be stopped by the Nittany Lions keeper. The Terps put a pair of shots on frame in the dying minutes of the game, but could not find the equalizer.
Kalm, Koehl, Kollected
- Sophomore Leon Koehl leads the Terps four 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 is 4-4 from the penalty spot in 2024, the most since Malcolm Johnston scored four from the spot in 2022. Koehl's four penalty kick goals are the most in the Big Ten and is tied for the most in the country.
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Koehl scored from the spot in consecutive games for the Terps on two separate occasions this season. Koehl first accomplished the feat against Virginia on Sept. 2 and Sept. 6 against Brown. He scored from the spot in Maryland's last two games, with PK goals at Indiana on Sept. 20 and at Northwestern on Sept. 27. 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.
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 second-most in the Big Ten.
- 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.
The Griffith Show
- With his 17th minute goal against Northwestern on Friday, Griffith has tied his career-high for goals in a season with three. Griffith had two goal contributions in the game, as the junior drew the penalty that led to Leon Koehl's 12th minute goal.
- Earlier this season, Griffith scored in consecutive games against San Diego State on Sept. 9 and then No. 8 Wisconsin on Sept. 13. It 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.Â
Griffith had his second consecutive game with a goal in Maryland's 3-0 win over Wisconsin. It 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.
Let's Go Streaking
- With its 2-1 win over Northwestern, Maryland moved to 3-0 in Big Ten play. This marks the first time that the Terps have won their first three games to start Big Ten play.Â
- This is the best start to conference play for the program since the 2012 season, when the Terps began ACC play with six consecutive victories to start its conference slate.
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The win also extended the Terps unbeaten run to seven-straight games, with a record of 5-0-2 during the run. The last such unbeaten run came back in 2022, when the Terps went unbeaten in eight games (6-0-2).
The Terps are unbeaten in their last seven games, with a record of 5-0-2 during the streak. This is the longest unbeaten streak since 2022, when the Terps went unbeaten in eight games (6-0-2).
