By AVI CREDITOR
BOYDS, Md. -- It took a half, but the Maryland men's soccer team put together a performance that merited the team's preseason No. 5 ranking in the SBI/Fox Soccer Top 25.
Sophomore Patrick Mullins and junior John Stertzer scored four minutes apart to snap Maryland out of a funk and break a scoreless deadlock early in the second half, and the Terrapins defeated St. John's, 3-0, in the nightcap of the ACC/Big East Challenge Friday night at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
The match was part of a doubleheader that opened with No. 15 West Virginia knocking off No. 11 Virginia, 1-0, on a goal from standout defender Eric Schoenle.
Maryland's match started close, but the Terps broke it open in the second half. The romp began when Mullins ripped a low, 30-yard shot that took a slight deflection and beat goalkeeper Rafael Diaz to give Maryland a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.
"We wanted to make sure we put some shots on frame and make the goalie work in the second half and really put them under pressure," Mullins said. "After the first goal, we really responded and we were in our comfort zone. The jitters were gone, and we just came out and played."
"We came out (in the second half) and really picked up a lot of energy and quality, and some of our talented players really settled down," Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said.
Senior forward Casey Townsend added the third for Maryland in the 76th minute, heading in U.S. Under-18 and freshman midfielder Alex Shinsky's corner kick to the back post.
The three-goal outburst was a far cry from the level of play over the course of the first 45 minutes, which was a lot less active and more even. Between working in a number of new faces (seven new starters), the early jitters of a season-opening game and a overcoming a defensively organized opponent, the Terrapins got off to a sluggish start, unable to command possession.
The Red Storm (0-1-0) enjoyed the majority of the chances in the half, but Maryland fifth-year senior goalkeeper Will Swaim came up big when called upon.
He robbed senior Walter Hines of a sure score by tipping his goal-bound, bouncing header off a corner kick over the bar in the 38th minute. Swaim came up big in the second half as well, as he managed to get a hand on junior Jack Bennett's 69th-minute shot on a breakaway after the attacker had timed his run into the area to beat an offside trap.
"If we had been able to get that goal down to 2-1, it probably would've changed the momentum of the game," St. John's coach Dr. Dave Masur said. "So maybe it was a little unfortunate, but really you can't say that. The second half was pretty much all Maryland. They took the game to us."
WEST VIRGINIA 1, VIRGINIA 0
No. 15 ranked West Virginia rode a goal scored just before halftime by junior centerback Eric Schoenle to a 1-0 victory over No. 11 Virginia in the opening game of the night.
Shadow Sebele, West Virginia's leading point scorer last season, took an inswinging corner kick from the far flag that flew toward the far post, where Schoenle met it in stride with a darting run. Schoenle hit the ground from the momentum of his run and developed a bulging bruise on his head that forced him to the sideline for the remainder of the match, but his decisive impact was made.
"I usually run near post but saw my defender start to cheat, so I went back post, Shadow played a perfect ball and I just dove and headed it in," Schoenle said.
The majority of the play that preceeded and followed the goal was chippy and physical, with neither team being able to develop quality chances.
West Virginia (1-0-0) had the two best chances of the opening half, with Sebele's blast from 30 yards just clearing the crossbar in the 24th minute and Travis Pittman's free kick curling past the far post five minutes later.
Virginia (0-1-0), which was without starting senior striker Brian Ownby (undisclosed minor injury according to a UVA spokesman), struggled to find a rhythm and went down a man in the 54th minute when left back Hunter Jumper picked up his second yellow card of the second half for a harsh challenge on Pittman.
Despite the disadvantage, Virginia found some success going forward as the second half progressed, and freshman midfielder Eric Bird snapped a header off the right post following a corner kick that represented the Cavaliers' best chance to equalize.
"It was a good way to start, and it's a good result to get," West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "I thought our guys, for 75 minutes, played really, really well but had a spell where we took our foot off the gas and then put it back on toward the end."
Nick Claudio nearly made it 2-0 for the Mountaineers with two minutes remaining in the match, but Virginia goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita turned away his low, short-range shot from the left to preserve the scoreline.
The win was the second consecutive for West Virginia over Virginia, with their last meeting coming in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Virginia had won the five previous meetings.
West Virginia sets its sights on toppling another ACC power when it takes on Maryland on Monday at 7 p.m. The game was originally slated for Sunday but was postponed due to the threat posed by Hurricane Irene.
