Soccer match marred by late-game fight

The Terrapin men's soccer team has struggled to finish games throughout this season. But never before has it needed police assistance.

With five seconds remaining in double overtime of a 1-1 tie, a fight broke out between the Terps and Cal State Northridge, complete with punches thrown and both benches cleared. Junior defender Rich Costanzo, who was seen swinging punches in the middle of the fight, was given a red card.

Matador forward Moy Gomez was also given a red card for the incident, in a game that included four red cards and three yellow cards. Costanzo was the only Terp to receive a card during the game.

On a day when his team signed autographs for the Junior Terps Club after the game, Terp coach Sasho Cirovski was embarrassed with the on-field display.

"What was a hard-fought game ... deteriorated into something less than soccer," Cirovski said. "The last few minutes were an embarrassment for all of college soccer."

As the teams were lining up for a Terp corner kick in the 110th minute, Costanzo and Gomez were the apparent leaders in the altercation which resulted in Costanzo allegedly striking a Cal State Northridge player, according to University Police spokesman Paul Dillon.

Dillon said the police responded and while no charges were filed, the Matador player inquired to police about filing charges against Costanzo.

Exactly what happened in the scuffle was unclear. Cirovski said he wouldn't comment until he watches video of the altercation. Players were not made available to the media. Dillon simply said the fight did not leak into the stands and was contained to the field.

The fight happened directly in front of the Cal State Northridge goal. As a result, The Crew, the devoted Terp student cheering section, was placed directly in front of the action.

Senior information systems major Brendan O'Leary, president of The Crew, said the group could not clearly distinguish the action on the field. But the group was rather rambunctious about the "dirty play" throughout the game.

"Dirty soccer in general is one of my least favorite things to watch," O'Leary said. "We were all very angry. We obviously didn't want to see that type of thing happen.

"There's lots of family there and there are kids watching," O'Leary added. "And to have this type of thing happen is just terrible."

Cirovski made sure to note that when he reviewed the video, he would punish any and all players he held responsible. Costanzo, by virtue of receiving a red card, will not be allowed to play in the Terps' next game tomorrow night against Georgetown.

But the coach said the game was in disarray and his players were essentially reacting to the circumstances.

"The game got completely out of control and the players had to take it into their own hands, and obviously didn't do very well" Cirovski said. "The players were very confused by what was acceptable and what was unacceptable on the field. And therefore things got out of hand."

Cal State Northridge committed 26 fouls in what was an extremely physical affair throughout.

Both goals in the game were scored in the first two and a half minutes.

Freshman goalkeeper Thorne Holder made a major mistake when he passed the ball directly to Cal State Northridge midfielder Adrian Lopez in the game's first minute. Lopez zipped a pass to teammate Michael Clegg, who scored easily on an out-of-position Holder in the second minute.

The Terps immediately answered with a goal by freshman midfielder Rodney Wallace, his third score in the last two games. Wallace put in a header off a cross from sophomore midfielder Jeremy Hall.

From that point on, it became a game of attrition.

The Matadors' fouls gave the Terps a remarkable number of corner and free kicks, yet the Terps were unable to execute in any of their set pieces despite a number of strong chances. And the Terps prevented any strong Cal State Northridge attack, allowing only one shot on goal after the initial score. The Terps outshot the Matadors 22-10.

Cirovski was not happy with his team's execution throughout the game, but he took much of the blame himself.

"We were extremely poor today," Cirovski said. "It was a very disappointing performance all around ... It's my responsibility to make sure they are in a good place mentally and physically to play, and I think I let them down today."

Holder's mistake proved extremely costly to the Terps. He was removed to start the second half in favor of fellow freshman Will Swaim, playing in his first game since Sept. 22.

"It was something I'd been thinking about before the game," Cirovski said. "Obviously [Holder] made a big mistake, and Will's healthy, he's been practicing well. So we got him in there to sure things up."

Cirovski moved his players around a lot and got numerous chances on goal.

Sophomore defender Omar Gonzalez was moved up to play forward in the second half, the first time he has played the position in more than a month. In addition to notching four shots, the 6-feet-5-inch sophomore utilized his height to create a number of opportunities on set plays, none of which were successful. The offense was also hurt by an unspecified injury to Hall early in the first half, who wore a boot on his foot on the sidelines for much of the game.

Finishing has been an issue for much of the season for the Terps and tonight was no exception.

"We were threatening but we were just a little off," Cirovski said.

But the coach admitted that, considering the emotional nature of a game that culminated in the bench-clearing fight, analyzing his team's play wasn't the easiest thing to do.

"Today was a tough one," Cirovski said bluntly.

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