COLLEGE PARK, MD — The No. 4 Terps advanced past the North Carolina Tar Heels in penalty kicks (4-3) after a 1-1 draw at Ludwig Field on Sunday afternoon in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Laurin Mack scored the final goal to send the Terps on in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and end North Carolina's season in dramatic fashion. The Terps will face No. 13 UConn, a 3-1 winner over Cornell on Sunday, in the Third Round at Ludwig. The match will take place Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m., and air on ESPN+.

LAU WITH THE GAME-WINNING PENALTY KICK AFTER MAKING 2 SAVES! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/sKymHSK29y

— Maryland Men's Soccer 🐢 (@MarylandMSoccer) November 23, 2025

Rocket Ritarita broke the ice in the 43rd minute of play as he snuck his third goal of the season past UNC's Andrew Cordes. Both Sadam Masereka and Jace Clark earned assists on the goal as Maryland took a 1-0 lead just before half. 

A 🚀 from Rocket

Rocket Ritarita gets the scoring started for @MarylandMSoccer #NCAASoccer x 🎥 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/4VntV3dXX1

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 23, 2025

UNC found the equalizer in the 54th minute and the two teams battled through the end of regulation, but overtime was needed to settle the 1-1 tie. Both overtime periods were scoreless, sending Maryland to penalty kicks for the first time all season. Mack made a pair of saves and buried the game-winning goal to send his Terps on and keep their season alive.
How It Happened:
First Half:

• Masereka recorded the day's first shot in the third minute. 
• Maryland was awarded the match's first corner in the fourth minute. 
• UNC fought off a Maryland corner in the sixth minute. 
• Farouk Cisse recorded a shot on the Terps' third corner in the 13th minute. 
• Stephane Njike had a shot blocked in the 21st minute. 
• A Luca Costabile shot missed just high in the 24th minute. 
• The Tar Heels took their first two corners in the 26th minute and recorded their first shot. 
• UNC's Immanuel Mathe drew a yellow card in the 50th minute. 
• Ritarita scored (3) in the 43rd minute with assists from Masereka (5) and Clark (2).
• Maryland took a 1-0 lead into the break.

Second Half:

• Laurin Mack earned his first save in the 52nd minute. 
• North Carolina's Callum Frogson earned a yellow card in the 52nd minute. 
• UNC's Nacho Abeal tied the match in the 54th minute.
• Maryland was given a corner in the 59th minute. 
• Mack made a save in the 66th minute. 
• Masereka just missed a shot in the 71st minute. 
• UNC's Luca Nikolai was dealt a yellow card in the 80th minute.
• A Leon Koehl shot was saved in the 84th minute. 
• Mack made a diving save in the 87th minute.
• The Terps fought off a UNC scoring chance in the 88th minute. 
• The game headed to overtime at a 1-1 score. 

First Overtime:

• Masereka was awarded a free kick in the 91st minute, but UNC kept it out. 
• Masereka got fouled in the 95th minute to give the Terps a scoring chance. 
• The scoreless period only featured one shot.

Second Overtime:

• Maryland fought off a corner in the 106th minute. 
• UNC's Andrew Czech picked up a yellow card in the 107th minute. 
• The Tar Heels made a save in the 110th minute to send the match to penalty kicks. 

Penatly Kicks:

• Only North Carolina scored in the first PK.
• Mack made a save and Koehl scored in the second PK to even the score. 
• Mack made another key save and Joseph Umberto Picotto scored to put Maryland ahead in the third PK.
• Both UNC and Maryland (Lasse Kelp) scored in the fourth PK. 
• North Carolina and Maryland (Mack) scored to end the match and send the Terps on in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Tournament Success:

• The Terps are competing in their 42nd NCAA Tournament, the fifth-most in NCAA history.
• With 63 wins in the NCAA Tournament, Maryland has the sixth-most all-time victories.  
• Cirovski's 31 tournament appearances are the most by any head coach in NCAA history.
• Cirovski's 52 NCAA Tournament wins are the second-most all-time.
• Between 2001-22, Cirovski led Maryland to 22 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
• The Terps look to be the first No. 4 seed to ever win the College Cup.
• In Maryland's three championships under Cirovski, they won as the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 11 seeds.
• The Terps have won an NCAA Tournament game in three of the past four seasons. 

Taming The Tar Heels:

• Sunday's matchup was the 72nd between the Terps and Tar Heels in each program's history.
• Maryland holds a 45-22-5 over long-time ACC rival UNC, with the most recent matchup coming in 2013.
• In College Park, The Terps hold a 24-10-1 record over North Carolina.
• Coach Cirovski improved to a 17-7-3 record against the Tar Heels.

Sasho Cirovski's Message:

• "It's an absolutely wonderful feeling to survive and advance in an epic college soccer playoff match."
• "I thought we played very well in the first half and perhaps deserved more than a one-goal lead."
• "It was a test of the will, and the heart, and the mind, and the body and our guys stayed true. We kept pushing. We kept having chances."
• "Kudos to Laurin, but also to our whole team for their resiliency and their toughness."
• "Even when it wasn't our best, we were still in the fight the whole game."
• "Mack is one of the best strikers on the whole team. He wanted the responsibility of the final shot. The team felt confident and wanted him to have it."
• "We're blessed to have the best fans in the country. It was another wonderful atmosphere here today."

Mack's Miraculous Moment:

• "I felt pretty confident that I was making it."
• "Making the saves boosted my confidence a little bit, but it wouldn't have changed anything if I hadn't saved anything before my shot."

Up Next:

•  The Terps will face No. 13 UConn, a 3-1 winner over Cornell on Sunday, in the Third Round at Ludwig. The match will take place Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m., and air on ESPN+