Maryland Men's Soccer: Terps 2-0 Villanova

Following a disappointing loss to Northwestern that saw them give away a lead and fall in overtime, the Maryland Men's Soccer team had to rebound quickly as they welcomed the Villanova to Ludwig Field. The game was a good chance to restore some confidence before another big conference match-up with Penn State on Friday. The Terps seemed to find that confidence early on and ran past the Wildcats 2-0 winners.

First Half

Maryland got off to a very quick start in the opening half and nearly broke the deadlock on multiple occasions inside the first five minutes. Mael Corboz had a free kick opportunity from the edge of the 18 yard box, which he curled all the way to the far corner only for it to come off the post. The ball ricocheted out near the byline and Chris Odoi-Atsem whipped in a cross which was headed just wide by Ivan Magalhaes. Magalhaes was free in the six yard box and got plenty of power behind his effort, but couldn't direct it into the net.

Amar Sejdic also had a good chance with a shot from just outside the box which was saved by Nova keeper Will Steiner. More shots continued to rain in for the Terps over the next five to six minutes but none were on target.

Villanova survived the wave of early Terp efforts and managed to settle in and prevent the Terps from continuing to bombard Steiner's goal, but the Terps still held the majority of possession.

Still, it was only a matter of time until Maryland broke through, and in the 20th minute, they did. Tsubasa Endoh buried a shot from near the byline into the far corner of the net to put Maryland up 1-0. It was Endoh's first on the year and Amar Sejdic got an assist as well.

Maryland had a few more efforts in the ensuing minutes following Endoh's goal, but none tested Steiner. Villanova did work their way into the game a bit more, with Sean Sheridan having a shot go high and Lucas Hodges having one blocked.

After 30 minutes, Nova finally got a shot on goal with Padraic McCullaugh having a shot saved by Cody Neidermeier. Maryland re-established their dominance following this brief Nova spell, with DJ Reeves forcing a save from Will Steiner and Tsubasa Endoh having a shot blocked.

The game picked up in intensity over the final few minutes of the half and started to open up with teams having chances from dead balls - Alex Crognale had a header saved off off a corner and Colton Bryant had a header go high. Villanova's Andreas Bartosinski shooting wide.

At half-time Maryland led 1-0.

Second Half

Maryland started off the second half much in the way they started the first. Tsubasa Endoh and Jorge Calix both had shots that forced saves from Will Steiner and Diego Silva had one go wide.

Silva got forward from the back and had a shot from the edge of the box that was pushed out of play for a Maryland corner. The corner wouldn't bring any goal for the Terps though, and the game remained 1-0 Maryland.

Despite all the near misses, just like the first half, you just knew another goal was coming. And after a fantastic delivery from Calix across the face of goal, which David Kabelik latched on to and tucked into the near post, it was 2-0 to UMD.

The game slowed down considerably after the 2nd Terps goal. The Terps looked to remain tight at the back and not let Villanova get in behind, and the Wildcats just didn't have the quality to truly threaten UMD.

Maryland had a couple corners and made some subs as the match winded down. VU continued to pose no threat whatsoever.

The lead was maintained for the remainder of the match, and Maryland walked out 2-0 winners.

Final: Maryland 2-0 Villanova

Maryland will play much tougher games during the rest of the season, but this was still a nice win to get off the back of a disappointing loss.

Maryland is back in action this Friday night against Penn State at 7 PM from Ludwig.