Maryland men’s soccer knocks off Michigan 3-2 in double overtime

It took the Maryland men’s soccer team 103 minutes to outlast Michigan, 3-2, and prevail in a back-and-forth Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal Sunday night at Ludwig Field.

George Campbell became the double-overtime hero this week, as he brilliantly turned his defender before rifling the ball past substitute goalkeeper Braden Horton to get the winner. It was the first real shot Horton had seen after coming on for regular starting goalkeeper Evan Louro.

The No. 1 Terps (16-0-2, 8-0-1 Big Ten) went up 1-0 in the 29th minute when Andre Morris poked the ball past Louro. Gordon Wild’s low cross caught the senior defender off guard and a failed clearance resulted in the own goal.

Michigan replied three minutes before the halftime whistle. Senior midfielder Tyler Anderson shot the ball from the top of the area, after defender Lars Eckenrode set him up off a set-piece, and his ensuing shot rolled in past Cody Niedermeier’s outstretched arm at the bottom right corner.

It took D.J. Reeves and Maryland less than 90 seconds to reclaim the lead. Louro made the mistake of coming out to smother Chris Odoi-Atsem’s run into the box and failed to cover Reeves on the overlap. All it took was a square pass from Odoi-Atsem for Reeves to tap it home.

Francis Atuahene, arguably Michigan’s biggest threat, drew the Wolverines level again early in the second half. Niedermeier was left frozen as Rylee Woods’ swerving cross met Atuahene’s head in the six-yard box.

Freshman center-back Donovan Pines started this game for Maryland, and Alex Crognale’s usual partner Suli Dainkeh was shifted out to the left, because both Andrew Samuels and Diego Silva were dealing with injuries.

Atuahene was through on goal in the 20th minute but his shot deflected out of bounds off the far post as he was closed down by Suli Dainkeh.

Wild had a good chance to score the go-ahead goal with seven minutes left, but a great save from Louro preserved the scoreline. Reeves’ shot, just over a minute later, stunned Louro but the trickling ball mercilessly bounced off the right post to keep the score tied.

With 57 seconds remaining in regulation, Jake Rozhansky, who had a pretty quiet night relative to his performance against Michigan last week, dinged another shot off the post.

The Wolverines may be ranked eighth in the Big Ten, but they have a talented group of individuals. Their play revolves around Atuahene, but other names like Eckenrode and Woods stepped up today. At 4-10-4, this is a down year for head coach Chaka Daley’s men, but it’s clear they already have the pieces to make this an NCAA tournament team.

Maryland finished the game with 13 shots to Michigan’s four. Niedermeier failed to register a save for the second game in a row.

The Terps play Michigan State next in the Big Ten semifinals on Friday. Kick-off will either be set at noon or 2:30 p.m. and the match will be broadcast on BTN.