No. 5 Maryland men’s soccer plays No. 4 Indiana to 1-1 draw
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Via University of Maryland) – Senior defender Alex Crognale scored in the 87th minute to give the No. 5 Maryland men’s soccer team a 1-1 draw at No. 4 Indiana in the Big Ten Conference opener Friday night.
Crognale’s goal came after Maryland goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier served a long ball to freshman defender Donovan Pines who then found Crognale for the equalizer from six yards. The Terps and the Hoosiers moved to 3-0-2 on the year. Niedermeier made four saves to lead the Maryland defense which has held every opponent to one goal or less in 2016.
Richard Ballard scored the lone goal for Indiana, which outshot Maryland 16-14 on the night. Ballard’s goal from six yards came after Maryland was unable to clear a flurry of action in the box in the game’s opening minutes.
The Terps notched the only two shots in overtime.
“It was a disappointing start and a fantastic finish I think you could say,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We need to do a better job of starting games on the road but I thought we had a good reaction after going down. Cody Niedermeier and Alex Crognale were true stalwarts today. That’s exactly what you want from your captains and we got it tonight.”
Friday’s contest was a rematch of last season’s Big Ten tournament semifinal in which Maryland won in penalty kicks, 3-2.
Maryland travels to Rutgers for another match televised on the Big Ten Network on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
