After it all, after all the madness that ensued just minutes earlier, the Michigan State men’s soccer team floated a ball to the upper left corner of the goal in overtime, past an outstretched Zac MacMath.
The game ended. The Terps, who had battled back from a two-goal deficit and took the lead with a minute remaining, were left stunned. MacMath ran into the back of the net and fell to the ground.
“It was an emotional roller coaster,” Cirovski said.
No one could have imagined what just happened.
After an own-goal and a corner kick letdown, the Terps found themselves in a two-goal deficit. But a foul drawn by midfielder Doug Rodkey in the penalty box gave midfielder Matt Kassel the chance to score the team’s first. He did, giving the team momentum with less than 15 minutes remaining.
Then, as the game was slowly dripping away, the Terps did the unbelievable. Midfielder Kaoru Forbess scissor-kicked a cross from forward Matt Oduaran for the equalizer less than a minute an a half remaining.
But then, almost as if it was scripted, Doug Rodkey, back for his sixth season as a Terp and who had set off the comeback in the first place, basically ended the game and threw Ludwig into histeria with a goal of his own on a free kick from Matt Kassel.
The Crew went nuts, the bench stormed the field and the Terps were on top.
Then the whistle blew. Nine seconds later, Michigan State slipped in a goal past MacMath sending a crazed crowd to silence.
“It all happened pretty fast,” Townsend said. “They caught us in a moment, when we were excited. It can’t happen.”
For a defense that had already fallen so short, the final goal – which sent the game to overtime – changed the entire landscape of the Terps’ season. Minutes later, the Spartans won the game, stormed to the adoring Michigan State fans at the stands and went into jubilee.
The Terps start the season with a loss for the second consecutive season. But tonight’s 4-3 devastation will sit with coach Sasho Cirovski and the Terps for the rest of the season. In just a matter of 28 seconds, the Terps went from one down to their first lead to back to ground zero.
Spartan’s Domenic Barone scored the game’s final tally, assisted by Spencer Thompson at 95:49.
For the Terps, many questions linger. They dominated statistically (22 to 9 in shots, 11 to 3 in corners) and had all the momentum at the game’s most important moment. But the defense struggled, giving up the final two goals and an own goal by Alex Lee in the first half.
The Terps take the field again on Sunday, facing a much-less intimidating opponent in Northeastern. And the hours from now until 7:00 p.m. that night cannot go by faster.
“This one probably hurts up there with as far as we came and how we pushed,” Rodkey said. “There was no time left and we gave up a goal to tie it.”
“We will never give up four goals again,” Cirvoski vowed.
STATISTICS:
Shots – Terps 22, Spartans 7
Corner kicks – Terps 11, Spartans 3
Saves – Terps 2, Spartans 9
Fouls – Terps 7, Spartans 11
SCORING SUMMARY:
15:11 – MSU, Terps own goal by Alex Lee header
57:00 – MSU, Mark Barone to Domenic Barone to Rubin Bega on corner kick
76:08 – TERPS, Kassel penalty kick
88:38 -TERPS, Forbess from Oduaran
88:57 – TERPS , Rodkey from Kassel
89:06 – MSU, Rosendall unassisted
95:49 – MSU, D. Barone from Thompson
Much more to come in the coming days from this one. Don’t forget to check back here for all your soccer updates. If you want a semi-play-by-play of the game, check out the live chat I did by clicking on the link on my last post.
Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s soccer beat reporter. Reach him at ceckard@umdbk.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ceckard.