Maryland men’s soccer draws season opener against UCLA

The No. 4 Maryland men’s soccer team kicked off its season Friday night with an exciting 1-1 draw against No. 16 UCLA at the StubHub Center in California.

Alex Crognale, highly touted to have a good senior season, equalized after a rocky start from the Terps while a sturdy performance at the back ensured that UCLA remained scoreless the final 108 minutes of the game.

The Bruins began the match on the front foot, as junior forward Jason Romero scored just a minute past kickoff. He beat Terps goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier to the far corner after UCLA pounced on a two-on-one opportunity to give his team an early lead.

But Maryland didn’t stay off the scoresheet for long. The Terps’ first shot from junior transfer Jake Rozhansky ricocheted off the crossbar, while the midfield did well to hold up possession until the team could knock in a goal.

Just four minutes after Romero’s goal, Cody Albrecht picked out Crognale with a deft cross and the six-foot-five defender did well to head the ball home for Maryland’s first goal of the season.

Maryland finished with 14 shots (six on goal) to UCLA’s 12 (five of which came on goal). The Terps play their home opener on Monday at 7 p.m. against Hartford.