No. 1 Terps caught in battle, but top Eagles, 2-1

Not to be outdone, here's Wild's goal in the 70th minute! #FearTheTurtle https://t.co/RpI3zr9V3D

— Maryland Soccer (@MarylandMSoccer) October 19, 2016

Gordon Wild’s Big Ten leading 11th goal of the year to lift Maryland to a 2-1 victory over American.
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It was a much tougher battle than anyone could have been expected for the No. 1 Maryland men’s soccer team against American University on Tuesday night, but like the elite team the Terps are, they found a way to pick up a 2-1 victory to remain unbeaten.

Amar Sejdic had a goal and his Big Ten leading seventh assists against American.

The previously 7-4-3 Eagles had the Terps in a draw until the 70th minute when Gordon Wild scored his lead-leading 11th goal of the year to lift Maryland to the victory. Amar Sejdic sent the ball up the right side of the field to Wild. The transfer moved into the box, shifted inside his defender and sent a left-footed shot between two Eagles into the top left corner of the goal from 16 yards out.

American nearly re-tied the game with 50 seconds remaining when Panos Nakhid stormed into the box and ripped off a shot from point-blank range, but Neidermeier slid forward to not only make the same, but to clear the ball out of danger to preserve the victory.

“It was a great game. It had the feel of a local derby,” Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “American is an exceptional team, certainly better than their record indicates. They were highly motivated and we once again found the resolve to come out and win the game. We scored two great goals on the night and made a great save.”

Maryland’s first goal came in the 26th minute from Sejdic. Jake Rozhansky laid the ball off for him in the middle of the field. Sejdic was on a full sprint when he ran onto the ball, took some steps forward past an American defender and blasted it into the goal from just outside the 18-yard box.

The Eagles evened the game seven minutes later when Chris Fanet headed in a free kick taken by Tim Neumann and kept shots close throughout the game, with Maryland finishing with just an 11-9 advantage over nine minutes. American led 4-3 in corner kicks.

Lucas Belanger had two more shots for American before halftime, but both went wide. Jake Garcia had back-to-back chances in the 51st minute when his first shot bounced off the crossbar and his rebounded went over it.

In the second half, Niedermeier made three saves, none bigger than his one in the fianl minute t0 help Maryland improve to 12-0-2.

Maryland will play their third of four-straight home games on Friday when they host Hofstra at 7:30 pm.

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Corey Johns

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You could say Corey was born to become a sports journalist. His father won a national championship coaching college soccer. His mother is a baseball fanatic who hasn't missed seeing an Orioles game since 1983 (literally, sometimes it's annoying). His great uncle was a big-time boxing promoter and his maternal grandfather was once a department head at the Baltimore Sun. Basically, sports and journalism run through his blood. He played just about every little league sports there was when he was a kid and was a multi-sport athlete in high school; even playing in the first-ever high school sanction Rugby game in the country. Eventually he retired from sports as an undefeated Maryland state Rugby champion as a high school senior. Perhaps lack of athletic talent has more to do with the retirement, but he will tell you that it more had to do with a great desire to jump right into media. Upon his graduation from University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a triple communications major, Corey started the So Much Sports network and has continued to grow his websites and continues to work to make them premier sports media outlets.

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