Maryland (2-1-2) vs. San Diego State (3-2)
September 9, 2024
Ludwig Field
7:00 p.m.
B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MD -- The Maryland men's soccer team hosts San Diego State at Ludwig Field on Monday night. This is the first all-time meeting between the Terrapins and the Aztecs. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live on
B1G+.
The Terrapins enter the contest following a 2-1 win over Brown on Friday night. Leon Koehl opened the scoring for the Terps, converting a penalty kick in the 10th minute. The score held at 1-0 for most of the game until Brown evened the game in the 78th minute. Just four minutes later Maryland would get the winner, as Max Rogers scored off a free kick depositing the ball in the upper right corner of the goal.
Match Day Promotions
- High School & Travel Team Night: High School and Travel teams between 9th – 12th grade will be able to attend the game for free by submitting their rosters ahead of time. Email your roster to aterry14@umd.edu.
Scouting the Aztecs
Kalm, Koehl, Kollected
- Sophomore Leon Koehl has scored two goals this season, with both of them 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 two or more penalty kick goals in a single-season since 2022, when Malcolm Johnston converted on four penalty kicks.
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Koehl has 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.
PREVIewING THE TERPS
- After a season not up to the high standards of Maryland Men's Soccer, a combination of hungry returners and talented newcomers will try and forge a winning identity as the Terps look to return to the top of college soccer.
- Read our season preview, featuring words from head coach Sasho Cirovski, team captain Alex Nitzl and Yale transfer Max Rogers.
Alex Nitzl has played and started in all five games for the Terps this season. Nitzl has been a staple in the lineup, playing in 57 games in his career.
BIG TEN PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Graduate student midfielder Alex Nitzl, graduate student center back Bjarne Thiesen and senior William Kulvik were named Big Ten Players to Watch, the league announced.
- Nitzl, a two-time team captain, enters his final season in College Park with 52 matches under his belt. With his ability to patrol the midfield and play any spot along the back line, he has established himself as one of the most versatile players in the country.
- Thiesen, who came to Maryland after an All-American season at West Virginia in 2022, will once again team with Kulvik, a 2023 All-Big Ten selection, as the Terps' center back pairing. The two have combined to play 110 matches in their careers.
- Maryland's other rostered player with past Big Ten plaudits is left back Luca Costabile, who was named an All-Freshman team selection in 2022. Fellow veteran Dalton Hass could also feature in an outside back spot for the Terps and the versatile Mack DeVries and Brian St. Martin can play multiple positions along the back line.
A second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2023, center back
William Kulvik has already scored two goals and notched an assist in 2024.
Welcome the NEWCOMERS
- The Terrapins have welcomed 12 newcomers, a combination of freshmen and transfers that will bolster the roster for the 2024 season.
- One of Maryland's most intriguing new additions is transfer Sadam Masereka, a dynamic attacking player who scored 22 goals and added seven assists in two seasons at Lindsey Wilson College. Yale transfer Max Rogers will also add to the attack after a first-team All-Ivy League season in 2023. The freshmen quartet of Mikkel Lejbowicz, Travis Thompson, Jameson Michel and Aidan Sheppela will also look to play roles in a Terps' attack that will look to return to form this fall.
- Maryland has become stronger between the posts with the additions of Brown transfer Hudson Blatteis, a Second-Team All-Ivy League selection in 2023, and freshman Laurin Mack from SC Freiburg of the German Bundesliga, who gained valuable experience with the Terps after joining the squad in the spring. They'll compete with talented sophomore Saxon Wolcott for playing time.
- The back line will be infused with two freshman talents in Baltimore native Jace Clark and Tampa's Alexi Mihalek. The transfer additions of Chris Steinleitner (Eastern Florida) and Joel Brown (Saint Leo) give the Terps additional experience in the defense.
- The Terps also have newcomers on staff, joining Cirovski and longtime assistant coach Jake Pace, with Brian Rowland and Michael Gould joining as assistants. Rowland is no stranger to success at Maryland after serving on staff with Cirovski from 2010-17. He helped the Terps win 123 games, 10 conference trophies and advance to two College Cups, including the national championship game in 2013. Rowland spent the 2023 season with UMBC and previously was the head coach at Temple from 2018-22. Gould was an assistant coach at Chestnut Hill College in 2023, primarily working with goalkeepers, and he will continue to tutor that position in College Park.
Uganda native
Sadam Masereka has started in all five games for the Terps after coming to College Park this season.
EXHIBITION SZN
- The Terps picked up a pair of home exhibition victories over Rider and Old Dominion in the lead-up to the 2024 campaign.
- Maryland's returning attacking players were on display as junior Colin Griffith and sophomore Luke van Heukelum tallied during exhibition action, including a hat trick from van Heukelum against Rider. The two will look for breakout seasons in 2024 and will be joined by returners Max Riley and Cameron Gerber in the Maryland attack.
- Sophomores Leon Koehl and Kenny Quist-Therson featured in the Terps' midfield this preseason after seasons in which they debuted in the center of the park. Junior Matias de Jesus will fill a greater role in 2024, while Cirovski and the Terps hope for the full return of Albi Ndrenika, who missed all of 2023 due to injury after expecting to be a key piece in the midfield.
After a few great exhibition performances
Luke van Heukelum has scored two goals in the regular season so far.
