Terps win 2-1. Great season for the Monarchs regardless. Best season since moving to Division I in the late 70's. http://umterps.ocsn.com/sports/m-soccer/stats/112603aaa.html Doubt I'll be on these boards much in the offseason, been good talking soccer w/ you folks. I'll probably check in once the late signing period comes in, but wrestling season's here and since that's a sport I'm involved in 11 out of the 12 months of the year, I'll be busy. Thanks all and congrats to Maryland.
Thanks ODUwildman, You have a good team to follow there although they were a bit overwhelmed tonight. Maryland outshot ODU 26-14 including 15-4 in the first half. Abe Thompson started but didn't finish because he aggravated his plantars fasciatis again; hopes to ready Sunday for the winner of Akron v. Rutgers. Goals were by Jason Garey and Clarence Goodson for Maryland; Ryan Sniegoski for ODU with one second left in the game, disputed by Sasho Cirovski afterward because he thought time had run out; so did a lot of other people, but it didn't really matter. Maryland pretty much dominated in this one and if you had to nitpick, it would be the Terps not finishing well with so many chances, but that is how it goes sometimes. The Maryland's defense was playing, it wasn't going to matter.
My match report from the DC board: 2-1 final to Maryland, with ODU getting their goal with literally one second left in the match. Thompson did blow his PK badly - basically right at the keeper. It kind of served him right though - he certainly embellished the slight foul that brought about the PK. However, Thompson was the best player on the field while he was in. By far. He dominated play. Unfortunately, he's still recovering from an injury, and could only go about 30 minutes. Maryland controlled the match - dominating it for about 60 of the minutes - but still found itself up only 1-0 for most of it. They had to clear a ball off the line in the 2nd half to keep their lead. That occurred during a 15-20 minute stretch of play where ODU controlled possession and had a couple of good chances, including the clear and an excellent outstretched one-handed save by GK Noah Palmer. The game was only sealed away when defender Clarence Goodson finished nicely from close range off of a free kick from 30 yards. Also, last year's Terp NCAA hero, Dominic Mediate, was hurt midway through the first half after missing a spectacular bicycle kick and landing very hard. He was on the ground for many minutes before he walked off, and he did not return to the match. His presence would undoubtedly have helped the very poor finishing that the Terps displayed, especially in the 2nd half.
Abe in & Dom out Just as UMD gets Abe Thompson back we find out that Dom Mediate has broken collarbone and is lost for the season. Maryland's depth continues to be tested with Thompson missing a month, Mediate gone, Bertz setting out a DQ last night and Goodson missing the UConn game with cards. So far so good!
The Mediate loss hurts but is offset somewhat by the emergence of Garey. Something about obscure sophomores from the South working for Sasho. That said, the Terps need Thompson to be healthy so that teams can't just concentrate on shutting down Garey. And they need Erwin Diaz to decide to show all his talent and for Nino Marcantonio, Sumed, AJ Herrera and the other fifth-year seniors to really step it up and help score some goals. Getting two against a tough defensive team like ODU is a good start. BTW, does Goodson score that second goal if McEachron is healthy and marking him?