In heated 2 OT match, Terps get a draw

RALEIGH, N.C. - There were 133 seconds left in a game that had gone nearly 110 minutes, and it seemed that all the Terrapin men's soccer team had done Saturday night was to be for naught in its eventual 1-1 draw against No. 23 N.C. State.

The verbal tongue-lashings, the late-game heroism, the incessant overtime cramping — with three steps and a strike from the penalty spot, they would all be forgotten footnotes in an epic tilt seemingly destined to be played for as long as possible.

For an instant, N.C. State midfielder Alan Sanchez's penalty kick in the match's second overtime appeared it would end it all prematurely. Goalkeeper Zac MacMath guessed right. Sanchez went left. But the shot was too far in the right direction and hit the left post before bouncing out.

All game, the Terps had managed to somehow scrounge just enough talent, energy and luck to overcome a game marred by controversies and inequalities — both real and imagined. Sanchez's errant shot was probably the most fitting conclusion.

"I wanted three points today, but under the circumstances, we'll take one," coach Sasho Cirovski said. "Maybe we got a little bit rewarded for our good work when it was all said and done."

In his postgame interviews, Cirovski wouldn't talk about the refereeing.

But for most of the match, it was all anyone, Cirovski especially, could talk about.

When midfielder Kaoru Forbess was apparently tripped inside the box midway through the first half, referee Lee Suckle's whistle remained silent.

The Terp coaching staff of Cirovski and assistants Rob Vartughian and Russell Payne did not. As they would dozens of times throughout the game, the three men exploded off the bench, questioning in unkind terms the legitimacy of several dubious calls.

"That is a disgrace. You should be banned for life. That is cheating right now," Cirovski screamed to Suckle at one point.

Cirovski wasn't the only one to complain. N.C. State coach George Tarantini yelled, "he just killed our guy man," at the official after Terp defender Alex Lee fouled Sanchez in the box.

Earlier, Cirovski's resentment toward the officials became contagious within his own team.

In the 37th minute, midfielder Doug Rodkey let Suckle know his displeasure with a non-call. Suckle, who had until then appeared completely oblivious of the myriad insults hurled his way from both teams, took offense to Rodkey's dissent. He ejected Rodkey, leaving the Terps to play with 10 men for the rest of the game and an already seething Cirovski simply stunned.

Five minutes into the second half, a handicapped Terp team seemed like it had grabbed the lead.

Forward Casey Townsend out-jumped his man, and his header smacked against the underside of the crossbar. The ball plummeted downward to the goal line, and Townsend raised his hands in celebration of what he presumed was the ball's complete passage over it.

The linesman, however, disagreed, and the Wolfpack happily cleared the ball from the shadows of their own goal frame.

"You've already lost this game," Cirovski screamed at the officials.

The mental and physical anguish eventually became too much for the Terps. After defender Kevin Tangney missed a slide tackle near midfield, the Wolfpack were off. As the Terps raced back, Wolfpack midfielder Michael Smith delivered a rolling cross from the left flank that defender Lucas Carpenter smacked off MacMath into the wide-open goal for a 1-0 lead with 26 minutes remaining.

Down a man and a goal, the Terps' shortcomings seemed insurmountable. Yet with each passing minute, they got closer and closer. Shots on goal were just deflected wide.

Corner kicks missed heads by mere inches.

And with little more than a minute remaining in regulation, midfielder Drew Yates somehow got open and with the ball. After evading a sliding defender 10 yards from goal, he carefully curled a shot into the top right part of the goal. His jubilant sprint to the sidelines was just as much in celebration of the game's tying tally as it was the team's own victory over the elements.

"This shouldn't have been our game," Yates said. "We had a lot going against us with the ref and with playing a man down."

Defenders Ethan White and Alex Lee went down with cramps in overtime, leaving an exhausted Terp backline even more depleted. Tangney's foul on the Wolfpack's Smith inside the box put Sanchez inches away from the game-winner, but it was not to be.

"‘Wow, we just lost this game and we fought so hard to get back in it,'" Yates said he thought to himself after the call. "I had a feeling that he was going to miss. We just were praying, and our prayers got answered."

shaffer@umdbk.com