No. 6 Maryland men fall short to Akron on Monday

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Via University of Maryland) – The No. 6 Maryland men’s soccer team put up a valiant effort in the second half but fell short to Akron, 3-2, on Monday night at Ludwig Field.

The Terps (2-1-1) picked up their first loss of the year after taking down No. 1 UCLA on Friday night in front of a Ludwig Field record crowd of 8,449. Freshman Sebastian Elney and senior David Kabelik provided the Maryland scoring on the night.

Akron (3-1) which topped Georgetown on Friday in Washington, D.C., got its attack going early, notching goals in the 22nd and 39th minute for a 2-0 lead at the intermission. Adam Najem found the back post with a shot from 13 yards for the Zips first goal before Richie Laryea followed with a 19-yard strike off a Terp turnover.

A rejuvenated Maryland squad came out in the second stanza and Elney – who scored the game-winner in overtime against the Bruins on Friday – headed home a beautiful corner kick from Mael Corboz in the 67th minute to cut the Akron lead in half.

Laryea answered in the 83rd minute for Akron. Terrapin rookie keeper Dayne St. Clair came out to make a save and after he tipped the initial shot, Laryea followed with an open-net tally to push the Zip cushion back to two.

A mere 25 seconds later, it would be Corboz again who would orchestrate another Maryland goal when his cross found Kabelik on the far sideline for a six-yard strike to bring the Terps back within one.

Maryland outshot Akron, 13-8, for the match.

“With a young team I was concerned about a letdown today and we certainly had one the first half,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “Akron came out and showed us tremendous respect and they put a great effort in the first half.

“We were one step too slow, one pass too slow. They made us pay for it. They are a very good team. I thought we played a better second half, but it was a reactive performance. It was not to the standard of Maryland Soccer. I want to apologize to our great fans that showed up today because what they saw in the first half was below the standard of Maryland Soccer. My goal is to never have another letdown half the rest of the year for them.”

Maryland – which saw another tremendous crowd of over 4,000 on Monday – will return to Ludwig Field on Friday for the Big Ten home opener against Michigan at 7 p.m. The match will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.