#2 Maryland routs Coastal Carolina, advances to NCAA Quarters
Sunny Jane scored two goals and notched an assist as No. 2 Maryland punched its ticket to the NCAA quarterfinals for the fourth time in five seasons with a 5-1 rout of Coastal Carolina Sunday at Ludwig Field.
A conscientious Maryland (19-1-2) defense held the high-powered Chanticleer attack to only one goal, and combined Jane’s tallies with goals from Patrick Mullins, Mikias Eticha and Jereme Raley for one of its most complete performances of the season.
After an uneventful first 10 minutes, Eticha knocked in a dangerous cross put in by Jane for his first goal of the season in the 13th minute.
Coastal Carolina (20-3-2) rebounded in the 21st minute when Ashton Bennett scored from 19 yards out. The squad’s top scorer took advantage of a weak Maryland clearance and was able to guide the ball past Terrapin keeper Keith Cardona for his 16th goal of the 2012 campaign.
Maryland came back less than a minute later when a Mullins’ free kick from 30 yards trickled into the net. The teasing ball was misjudged by Coastal keeper Mark Petrus and bounced into the left corner of the goal for the 2012 ACC Offensive Player of the Year’s team-high 15th tally of the year.
The Terps dominated the second half with Jane leading the way. The junior forward scored his first two goals of the season over a span of just four minutes.
Jane’s first tally came off of a sensational individual effort that saw the outside midfielder beat Petrus to the back right post after getting past a Coastal defender in the 60th minute.
Jane’s second goal came shortly after when freshman Christiano Francois retrieved the ball on the end line and laid it back to Jane, who calmly guided it past Petrus in the 64th.
Maryland put the Chanticleers away for good when Raley got on the end of a Jordan Cyrus pass in the 86th minute.
The five goals were the highest total for Maryland since a 6-0 victory over California on September 2.
“I’m very proud of our guys. I thought defensively we did a great job,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “Although this was two great attacking teams, I thought the team that was going to win was the one that was better defensively, and I thought our guys did a great job in neutralizing some of the great individual players that Coastal has.
“I thought it was a great overall performance. I’m delighted that we’re moving on.”
Maryland’s backline of Cyrus, Mikey Ambrose, Dakota Edwards and London Woodberry held the Chanticleers, who came into the game with nation-high 62 goals scored, to only one goal on 11 shots.
Maryland returns to the field next Saturday for the NCAA quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. from Ludwig Field, and coverage can be seen free of charge on TerpsTV.
