Just over 16 minutes into Friday night’s conference clash in Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, No. 19 Maryland and its star midfielder Colin Griffith hurled Northwestern on the ropes. The junior appeared an attacking threat whenever he gained possession during a blustery battle.
Bossing the left flank, Griffith proved an especially challenging matchup for sophomore defender Bryant Mayer, who took the winger down inside the box for a 12th-minute penalty kick. Five minutes after his teammate Leon Koehl bagged the opener, Griffith slotted home his third goal of the season, giving his team a 2-0 lead.
While the Wildcats (5-4, 0-3 Big Ten) launched a valiant comeback effort in the match’s latter 70 minutes, Griffith’s early brilliance helped the Terrapins (5-1-3, 3-0 Big Ten) garner a pivotal three points in a 2-1 victory.
Friday marked NU’s fourth loss in its past five matches — and the third consecutive game in which the ’Cats went at least a goal down within 20 minutes.
“It’s three games in a row we’ve given a gift to a Big Ten opponent,” coach Russell Payne said. “That’s three games in a row we’ve had to chase the game.”
Following NU’s second concession, which culminated off Maryland defender Luca Costabile’s backheel flick into Griffith’s central run, Payne turned toward a slew of substitutions. Notably, the group included freshman defender Luke Shreiner.
An FC Dallas Academy graduate, Shreiner had featured sparingly prior to Friday’s contest. Once Payne called his number at right back, the 6-foot-4 defender turned in a standout performance, shoring up a prior problem area on the backline while logging a season-high 57 minutes.
“He was excellent,” Payne said. “He gave us what we needed. He connected the passes we needed to connect, he was calm. Good defensive effort from him, he had some first-year actions that he’ll learn from. But, he needs to play those kind of minutes, and it’s clear he can help us.”
Alongside Shreiner, graduate student defender Bryce LeBel made his first start as a Wildcat. The Louisville transfer slotted into graduate student center back Reese Mayer’s role, with the latter unavailable due to injury.
Although the ’Cats outshot the Terrapins 4-3 in the first half, Payne’s group failed to fire an effort on target. Eyeing a spark off the bench, Payne subbed in several players for their first minutes of the match early in the second half, including sophomore defender Fritz Volmar and junior forward Christopher Thaggard.
Thaggard, sophomore forward Italo Addimandi, redshirt senior forward Akinjide Awujo and freshman forward Michael Ramirez swiftly put the visitors on the backfoot, creating chances from a variety of angles as winds whipped across the park.
“We showed a lot more belief in ourselves playing forward and playing more direct,” Thaggard said. “We have very gifted players on this team, and we have to trust that if we put the ball forward, we’re going to create a product out of it. That’s the reason we had our feet on their necks for the last 75 minutes.”
Maryland’s defense, which secured two consecutive clean sheets in its opening Big Ten matches, couldn’t extend its conference shutout streak beyond the game’s 64th minute.
Following a Terrapin tackle that ended a blistering counterattack, senior midfielder Collin McCamy lofted a long free kick into the box, which Shreiner headed into Thaggard’s path.
Capping off a play produced by a fellow North Carolina native, Thaggard smashed home his first goal since Sept. 29, 2023’s matchup with the Terrapins. Of Thaggard’s four career goals, three have come against Maryland.
“We needed that goal,” Thaggard said. “We’re in a tough spot, but we believe in ourselves … That goal was a reflection of the work we’ve put in all season.”
NU nearly delivered an equalizer, taking five corner kicks in the final 20 minutes. But, once graduate student forward Thaddaeus Dewing’s effort from just outside the 6-yard-box drifted wide, another defeat appeared all but imminent.
The action didn’t come to a complete halt after 90 minutes, with post-match pushing and shoving delaying the handshake line momentarily and earning Griffith a spot in the referee’s book — but Payne ultimately gathered his group by the bench area with a clear message moving forward in conference play.
“I told the guys at the end of the game, ‘The last 75 minutes was the best f—king soccer we played all season,” Payne said. “That was the most passes we connected in a single game — 400 passes. There was so much good stuff happening … We can win the rest of our games this season if we don’t give gifts away early.”
The ’Cats will look for their first Big Ten points of the year Tuesday night at Michigan State. With the Spartans (3-4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) sitting third in the conference table, a result would do wonders for Payne’s squad.
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