For the second-straight season, the University of Wisconsin Badgers men’s soccer team (2-3, 0-1 Big Ten) opened up their season against the Maryland Terrapins (4-0-1, 1-0), succumbing to two late goals in a 3-1 loss.
Last season, the Terps ran riot in College Park, scoring three goals and keeping a clean sheet on their way to a third-place finish in the Big Ten. Hoping to replicate their success this season, the Terps came flying out of the gate, forcing an early save from sophomore goalkeeper Matisse Hébert.
Maryland would continue to mount pressure on the Badger defense, as a Maryland defender went down inside the penalty area in the 15th minute, eliciting shouts from the away bench for a penalty. Since 2016, Video-Assisted Review has been in use at the NCAA level, and it was needed to determine whether or not the away side would have the opportunity for an early goal.
After a lengthy review, the referee awarded a corner kick instead, but the drama would not end there. Only seven minutes later, the Terps would go on the attack again, and again fell inside the penalty area. This time, the review would go against Wisconsin, and Maryland junior Leon Koehl would convert from the spot, putting the Terps up 1-0 inside a half hour.
The Badgers would regroup under the leadership of captain and junior Ellis Jones, winning several corners and testing Maryland goalie Laurin Mack. Wisconsin could not find a way through the stout back line of the Terps, which had kept three clean sheets in their previous four matches, and by halftime, the score remained 1-0.
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Coming out into the second half, the game was all Wisconsin as the Badgers looked to equalize. In the 57th minute, senior forward Thomas Raimbault received a pass near the penalty area and in an attempt to quell the attack, the Maryland defender pushed him to the group, forcing the referee to go to VAR for the third time of the night.
After a review that took much too long in the opinion of the Badger fans, the referee awarded Wisconsin a penalty kick and the chance to tie up the game. Sophomore Matthew Zachemski stepped up and fired the ball into the top right corner, giving Badger fans increasing hope for a positive result on the night.
Unfortunately that hope would not last for the remainder of the match as with 20 minutes to play an errant pass caused the Badgers to find themselves on the wrong side of a quick Terp counterattack. Maryland midfielder Albi Ndrenika carried the ball across the halfway line and slid a pass into the path of forward Stephane Njike. Njike used his quick footwork to get an angle to shoot and fired the ball into the bottom-right corner, past the reach of Hébert and celebrating with a gravity-defying backflip.
Things went from bad to worse for the Badgers as only five minutes later history seemed to repeat itself. The Terps picked up the ball near midfield and slid a ball perfectly between the Badger center backs, leaving freshman forward Rocket Ritarita one-on-one with Hébert. Ritarita managed to chip the ball over the Québécois goalie and into the back of the net to seal all three points for the visitors.
The result continues a disappointing trend for the Badgers, which has failed to see them win a Big Ten opener for the past seven seasons, including the COVID year when no matches were played. The last time the Badgers started the Big Ten schedule with a win was in 2016, when the now-Chicago-Fire striker Tom Barlow scored a 107th minute winner in double overtime against Michigan.
This season’s Big Ten schedule will not get any easier for the Badgers as they make the trip out West to take on the University of California-Los Angeles Bruins (1-3-2, 1-0) who defeated Northwestern in their Big Ten opener. The Badgers will return home next to face the Washington Huskies Sept. 26.