Men's soccer dominates vs. Wake Forest — just not enough

The Terrapins men's soccer team faced a harsh reality last night as it sought a cause for celebration in the final regular-season game for five seniors: It doesn't matter how much it dominates possession if it can't score goals.

The No. 4 Terps tallied a season-high 35 attempts against visiting Wake Forest. They surrendered just six. But when the final whistle blew at Ludwig Field after the Terps had endured 110 minutes of frustration and posted their most decisive shot advantage of the season, the scoreboard at Ludwig Field read 1-1. The result marked their second tie in a three-game winless stretch.

"Sometimes ties feel like a loss," coach Sasho Cirovski said. "We played exceptionally well the entire game. That's probably the most shots we've ever had against any ACC opponent. But it's still not good enough. We've got to start putting the ball in the back of the net."

Fresh off a heartbreaking loss at unranked Clemson last Friday, the Terps (13-2-3, 4-2-2 ACC) emerged firing in the opening minutes before 1,826 at Ludwig Field.

Just 10 minutes after kickoff, midfielder Sunny Jane's 7-yard bid clanked off the left post. Forward Patrick Mullins' rebound sailed wide right.

"It definitely leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, for sure," Mullins said.

Undeterred, the Terps continued to attack the net, registering six attempts in the ensuing five minutes.

Finally, they got what they wanted — and would need later on. In the 32nd minute, defender Taylor Kemp sent an arching cross to midfielder John Stertzer, who promptly flicked a header past Wake Forest (8-6-4, 4-3-1) goalkeeper Michael Lisch. The score was Stertzer's 14th of the season and put the Terps up 1-0.

The dominance rarely subsided for the hosts, who outshot the Demon Deacons, 14-1, in the first half. Four Terps each got more looks than the entire Demon Deacons roster.

But just five minutes into the second half, those numbers became inconsequential. Wake Forest forward Sean Okoli darted past his Terps marker and netted a 25-yard attempt over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Will Swaim.

The Terps nearly took the lead in the 60th minute when midfielder Helge Leikvang's open look from distance met the crossbar.

Cirovski's squad continued to dominate possession for the remainder of regulation, finishing the second half with six times as many shots as their opponent.

And just as it did throughout the first 90 minutes, the Terps took control of overtime. Forward Casey Townsend nearly ended the game in the 108th minute when his header from just inside the 6-yard box caromed off Lisch's hands and out of bounds.

"These games happen," Townsend said. "When they're not dropping, they're not dropping. We were doing a lot of things right. It's just that those final passes, those final shots weren't where they needed to be today."

But there were no closer calls than the two that arrived in the game's final minute.

Wake Forest forward Andy Lubahn's 8-yard attempt bounced off the left post with 45 seconds remaining in the second sudden-death overtime period.

On the field's opposite end, with the clock winding down, Mullins emerged from a scramble in the box to direct a ball past Lisch. The score would've given the Terps the 2-1 win, but the referees deemed it late, ruling that the ball had crossed the end line less than a second after time expired.

"I mean, obviously, I wasn't looking at the clock," Mullins said. "I could hear it, and I just wanted to play it out. It was just one of the plays at the end of the game that's difficult to make a call on."

Yet even with their missed opportunities, the Terps left the field last night with some sense of accomplishment. The tie secured the No. 2 seed in next week's ACC Tournament, meaning the Terps will welcome No. 7 seed Boston College to Ludwig Field on Tuesday for the first round.

"That was our goal coming into tonight," Townsend said. "We wanted that No. 2 seed. We thought we deserved it. But I don't really care where we're seeded. We just want to start the playoffs and win some tournaments."

TERPS NOTE: The Terps will be without Stertzer on Tuesday. The team's leading scorer received his fifth yellow card of the season in the 25th minute of last night's game, a threshold that requires him to sit out the Terps' next game.

letourneau@umdbk.com