MM 8.22: No. 20 Maryland men’s soccer defeats No. 14 Marshall, 2-1, in preseason exhibition

In its final preseason tune-up before the regular season begins, No. 20 Maryland men’s soccer took down No. 14 Marshall, 2-1, in an exhibition at Ludwig Field on Friday night.

The Thundering Herd scored the game’s first goal 33 minutes in, after a shot from junior left back Gabriel Alves deflected off a Terps defender and found the back of the net.

Just over 40 minutes later, Maryland finally broke through after struggling to gather any offensive momentum for much of the game. Redshirt sophomore forward Joshua Bolma brought the Terps level after a pass from junior defender Alex Nitzl found his left foot in the middle of the 18-yard box.

Bolma was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season after scoring four goals and adding four assists.

Just minutes later, Maryland kept the pressure on and once again got the ball to Bolma, who was dragged down in the penalty area by Marshall’s Nikola Sljivic. Senior forward Hunter George converted the penalty shot, giving the Terps the lead, one it did not relinquish the rest of the match.

The two teams agreed to play another 45 minutes after the exhibition reached full time and Maryland came out on top again, as senior midfielder Justin Harris scored the period’s sole goal approximately halfway through.

The Terps’ season begins on Thursday with a home game against No. 9 New Hampshire.

In other news

Maryland football wrapped up its second scrimmage of fall camp ahead of the season opener on Sept. 3. Here are some takeaways from the two intrasquad games.

Terps football legend Vernon Davis returned to College Park to speak to head coach Mike Locksley’s team. Testudo Times’ Sam Oshtry sat down with Davis last week and discussed his induction into the Maryland Sports Hall of Fame and the current state of the program.

Maryland junior wide receiver Rakim Jarrett was ranked as the 68th-best player in college football by ESPN.

Former Terp Alyssa Thomas continued her impressive season for the Connecticut Sun with a dominant performance in their first playoff game.

Maryland men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Camden Yards over the weekend.

Terps softball head coach Mark Montgomery also threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Friday’s Bowie Baysox game.

Former Terps and current NFL rookies Chigoziem Okonkwo and Tayon Fleet-Davis scored touchdowns in the second week of the preseason.

Brandon and Madison Lowe revealed that their first child will be a boy. They met at Maryland, where Brandon played baseball and Madison played softball.

Maryland volleyball competed in its annual Red-White Scrimmage ahead of the upcoming season.

A documentary on Maryland men’s soccer’s famed supporters group “The Crew” will premiere on Aug. 29.