No. 4 Maryland Men’s Soccer Works 2-2 Draw With UCLA

Friday, September 25

College Park, MD

7 PM

Maryland

6-1-1, 1-1-1

UCLA

3-1-4, 0-1-2

Team	1	2	Final F
UCLA	1	1	2
Maryland	1	1	2

Rocket Ritarita moves the ball upfield against UCLA

No. 4 Maryland Men’s Soccer Works 2-2 Draw With UCLA

9/25/2026 7:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Terps stayed unbeaten at home on a night where they honored the 1996 ACC Championship team.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — The No. 4 Terps trailed UCLA late in Friday night's match, but worked back to earn a 2-2 draw in front of 5,389 fans at Ludwig Field. Maryland extended its home unbeaten streak in the regular season to 15 matches while moving to 6-1-1 (1-1-1 Big Ten) in 2026.

Rodrigo Neri got the scoring started early with a goal in the fifth minute. The Bruins found the equalizer in the 19th minute, but were given a red card late in the first half, putting UCLA a man down for the majority of Friday's contest.

It only took Rodrigo five minutes to give the Terps the lead 😤 pic.twitter.com/WgheEuCaMG
— Maryland Men's Soccer 🐢 (@MarylandMSoccer) September 25, 2026

The Bruins (3-1-4, 0-1-2 Big Ten) were still able to take their first lead early in the second half before a chaotic sequence in front of the UCLA goal set Dominic Ayella up for the match-tying goal in the 78th minute.

Clinical positioning from our number 10 pic.twitter.com/nICwypZX2Y
— Maryland Men's Soccer 🐢 (@MarylandMSoccer) September 26, 2026

Laurin Mack made six key saves to preserve the draw on a night where Maryland honored its 1996 ACC Championship roster back to Ludwig Field. The Terps are back in action against No. 2 Indiana on Oct. 2.

A championship that helped put Maryland on the map 📍🐢

Thank you to the 1996 ACC Championship team!! pic.twitter.com/lBmdTof9rA
— Maryland Men's Soccer 🐢 (@MarylandMSoccer) September 26, 2026

How it Happened:
1st Half:

UCLA recorded the match's first shot in the opening minute.
Neri's goal (4) in the fifth minute opened the scoring with assists from Ljubomir Popovic (4) and Farouk Cisse (2).
Mack made a pair of huge saves in the 12th minute.
UCLA tied the match with a goal in the 19th minute.
The Terps fought off a Bruins corner in the 23rd minute.
UCLA was issued a red card in the 30th minute for impeding a breakaway, putting the Bruins down a man.
Maryland applied pressure with a pair of corners in the 31st minute.
A shot on goal from Leon Koehl forced a UCLA save in the 35th minute.
The match was tied 1-1 at halftime.

2nd Half:

The Terps took the half's first corners in the opening minutes.
Maryland blocked a shot on a UCLA corner in the 53rd minute.
The Bruins took a 2-1 lead with a goal in the 54th minute.
Mack made another save in the 63rd minute.
Ayella's goal (2) tied the game in the 77th minute with assists from Koehl (3) and Said El Eyssami (1).
Maryland continued to pepper the UCLA goal with quality looks in the closing minutes.
The match ended in a 2-2 draw.

Battling the Bruins:

Friday marked the 14th all-time meeting between Maryland and UCLA in a series that dates back to 2006.
Maryland moved to 4-5-5 all-time against the Bruins.
The Terps are now 3-3-3 against UCLA in College Park.

Cirovski's Corner:

"It was a wonderful crowd again. We're so appreciative of our fans' support. It was a really hard-fought game."
"We got off to a really bright start."
"Proud of the guys for coming back."
"We had enough chances to win that game."
"We have to become more stingy as a team and not give up this many goals. We cannot give up two goals at home. We're going to become a tougher team defensively. This will be the last one you'll see like this."
On the 1996 team: "That's a very special team. That's the team that put Maryland on a national map. That was a group that came here, believed in making Maryland a national power, and within a few short years, established themselves as an elite program. That is the most meaningful conference championship during my 34 years."

Numbers to Know:

14: Friday marked the 14th all-time meeting between Maryland and UCLA.
15: The Terps are unbeaten in their last 15 regular season home matches.
24: Maryland out-shot the Bruins 24-14.
5,389: Maryland drew 5,389 fans to Ludwig Field on Friday night, marking the program's fifth attendance of over 5,000 fans since the start of the 2025 season.

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