COLLEGE PARK, Md. – A rugged defensive struggle of more than 75 minutes turned in Maryland's favor late, as the 2018 NCAA national champions edged Villanova 1-0 Monday night at Ludwig Field.
The Terrapins moved their record to 3-2-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten. The Wildcats are now 4-2 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST.
Villanova now turns its attention to BIG EAST play, which begins Friday afternoon at DePaul in Chicago.
Ben DiRosa scored the winning goal with a tremendous blast from 20 yards out.
Redshirt sophomore Carson Williams turned in another sterling effort, making six saves on the night. Earlier in the day the Plano, Texas native was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week.
"I'm just real proud of our guys' effort," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "We defended when we had to, got a few chances, and were able to win a lot of individual battles.
"Really proud of everything but the result."
Both teams' defensive strength kept matters quiet over the first 15 minutes. Each side generated one shot and neither was on frame. The evening's first corner kick was awarded to Maryland and the Terps' Johannes Bergman headed a ball on net but directly into the hands of Williams.
Freshman Lyam MacKinnon drew a foul that gave Villanova a quality free kick, which was blocked and resulted in a Wildcats' corner kick. A feed for freshman Josh Belluz near the far post just missed to keep matters deadlocked at zero midway through the first period.
Later in what was a chippy first 45 minutes – a total of 17 fouls were called in the period – Maryland put some pressure on but the Wildcats defense was stout again.
At halftime, the match was level at zero. Maryland owned a 5-1 edge in shots in a session dominated by quality defense.
The Terps turned up the heat early in the second period. A whistle on the Wildcats for a foul in Villanova's own 18-yard box set up a penalty kick. Bergman fired a shot towards the upper right corner but Williams leaped into the air and knocked the ball away to keep the match tied at zero.
Maryland produced the game's only goal at 75:07. David Kovicic sent a ball to Ben DiRosa on the right side just outside the 18 yard box. DiRosa's fired a high shot into the top shelf past the outstretched arm of Williams.
Evan Vare nearly got an equalizer in response. The Wildcats senior collected the ball in the middle part of the field with a defender alongside. Vare's long shot, though, sailed high and Maryland retained its margin as the contest moved toward the 80th minute.
"We had two near breakaways," noted Carlin. "If one of those had gone our way, I think things could have gone a lot differently. But I'm proud of the effort. The backline and goalkeeper were tremendous, as they've been all season."
At night's end, Maryland enjoyed a 13-4 edge in shots on goal.
