The third-ranked Maryland men’s soccer team wrapped up its road schedule with a wild 5-4 win against Wisconsin on Friday night, and it’ll now finish the regular season with four consecutive games at Ludwig Field.
The next three games for the Terps are against nonconference opponents, starting Tuesday against No. 9 Georgetown. The programs have met up in each of the last three years, with the Hoyas winning twice. Not many teams can say they’ve controlled the success over the Terps in recent history, but Georgetown beat Maryland in both 2014 and 2015.
The Terps, however, won the match last season in College Park, 2-1. Gordon Wild and Eryk Williamson both scored, while Amar Sejdic provided an assist. Then-No. 7 Maryland outshot the then-No. 24 Hoyas, 16-6. This will be their third meeting in a row where both teams are ranked.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. ET, and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
No. 9 Georgetown Hoyas (9-2-1, 4-1-0 Big East)
Head coach Brian Wiese. Now in his 12th season, Wiese has led a Hoyas team that finds themselves in the national rankings year-in and year-out. In 2015, his Hoyas went undefeated in conference play, en route to the first tournament championship in program history. During that season, Georgetown went on a 14-game winning streak (with no ties in between).
Players to know
Freshman forward Derek Dodson, No. 25. In his first season of collegiate soccer, Dodson has five goals and two assists. He has a point in each of Georgetown’s last three matches, and his five scores rank eighth in the Big East. He’s only started three of 12 games, but two of those are in the last two matches.
Senior defender Peter Schropp, No. 3. Schropp has started in every game for the Hoyas over the last two seasons, earning the team’s Most Improved award after his 2016 performances. He has two goals this season on four total shots and is among seven Hoyas with at least two scores. His father and uncle both played soccer at Gerogetown.
Strength
Offensive opportunities. The Hoyas’ 17.4 shots per game rank third in the country, while their shots on goal per game rank seventh. Georgetown scores nearly two goals per game and has allowed just nine in 12 matches this season. The Hoyas have had nine different players score and seven of those have at lease two goals. It looks like another potential offensive shootout in the works Tuesday night.
Weakness
The Hoyas have been missing their leading goal-scorer. Ifunanyachi Achara has scored a team-high six goals this season, but has played in just seven of Georgetown’s 12 games. He played back on Oct. 6 against Butler, and then missed the last two games against Villanova and Duke. He still ranks fifth in goals scored in his conference despite playing fewer games than the rest of that leaderboard. The Hoyas are a solid offensive team, but will have to continue to find production elsewhere if he is still out on Tuesday.
Three things to watch
- Maryland will be without one starting defender...and potentially two. The Terps will be without starting right back George Campbell, who received a red card in the 83rd minute against Ohio State. By rule, he has to sit out one match now. Starting left back Chase Gasper only played the first 23 minutes on Friday, and then limped off the field with some sort of leg injury. He did not return. If he can’t play either, Miles Stray and Ben Di Rosa are likely candidates to fill in. Emmanuel Korvah has also helped in a defensive role in limited actions this season.
- How will the defense react after the madness in Madison? It was Wisconsin’s Senior Night, on national television, with torrential downpours and Maryland played with a man down for the final seven minutes. Needless to say, it was bound to be a tough match for the backline on Friday. It was the first time they conceded more than three goals in a game since last season’s NCAA Tournament—prior to that, they hadn’t given up four since 2015 against Penn State. Maryland might be without some key pieces, so look to see if the midfielders help out more defensively against the Hoyas.
- This will be the first of three straight nonconference matches. The Terps have four matches left, and three of them are against non-Big Ten opponents. Following Georgetown on Tuesday, Maryland will play Coastal Carolina and VCU, two teams the Terps haven’t faced since 2014. Each team gives Maryland different challenges before both the regular season finale against Michigan and the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.