Maryland men advance to Elite Eight with win over Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Via University of Maryland) – Despite playing a man down for the final 12 minutes, No. 10 seed Maryland upended No. 7 Notre Dame, 2-1, Sunday afternoon to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.

Ivan Magalhaes and Eryk Williamson both notched goals for Maryland (12-5-5) which won its sixth consecutive match. Senior Mael Corboz accounted for two assists to move his season tally to 12, the most for a Terrapin in a single season since Stephen King (13) in 2007.

Magalhaes kicked off the scoring for the Terps in the 21st minute. The junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, headed home a perfect free kick service from Corboz for his first career goal.

Williamson provided the eventual game-winner in the 38th minute. The freshman netted his sixth goal in as many games off yet another Corboz assist as he calmly slotted a ball past a diving Chris Hubbard to far post from 10 yards for the 2-0 cushion.

Notre Dame answered with its lone goal of the match in the 41st minute as Patrick Berneski took advantage of a set piece from six yards.

Magalhaes was issued a second yellow card with 12 minutes remaining, forcing the Terrapin defense to play a man down for the remainder. But a gritty Maryland performance withstood a final push by Notre Dame to secure the victory.

“I’m incredibly proud of the effort our guys put forward today. We needed to have a championship effort and we got one,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “It was a battle. We had to deal with the adversity of being a man down for the final 12 minutes and our guys hung tough. They were Terrapin tough tonight. This is not an easy place to win. If you can win here, you can win anywhere. We’re looking forward to the next challenge.”

Maryland will play the winner of the No. 2 Clemson/UCSB matchup, slated for 6 p.m. Sunday night.