Seniors Lead No. 21 Terps To a Rout of No. 18 Cavs

Maryland 4, Virginia 1

Stephen King had watched fellow senior Spencer Allen score early in the match and Aki Kadotani, the other Maryland soccer player making his final regular season appearance at Ludwig Field, convert his breakaway in the second half. So in the 81st minute of the No. 21 Terrapins' 4-1 victory over No. 18 Virginia last night, King turned to the bench for instruction from Coach Sasho Cirovski on a free kick.

"We had a different set piece planned," Cirovski said afterward. "I yelled over at the last minute, 'King, you have it, put it in the back of the net.' That's verbatim. And he stuck it right back there."

King curled the 24-yard attempt over the defensive wall and just inside the left post, capping a wondrous night for Maryland's seniors and another overpowering display by the young Terrapins before 3,267 spectators. Making the most of a five-week homestand, Maryland (9-4-4, 3-3-1 ACC) extended its unbeaten streak to nine (6-0-3) and increased its scoring total in the last two matches to nine.

"At first I didn't think Sasho was going to call my name and then when he did I was excited," said King, who tied Keith Beach for the program record for career starts with 89. "I just tried to get it over the wall and down to the near post."

King also had the secondary assist on Allen's goal in the 11th minute and Kadotani's strike in the 75th, and the primary assist on Graham Zusi's goal that snapped a 1-1 tie before halftime.

Virginia (10-5-2, 1-4-2) slipped further in the ACC standings following its 7-1-2 start and still must play at second-ranked Wake Forest in its regular season finale Friday. If the loss was not bad enough, the Cavaliers also saw Yannick Reyering, the ACC's leading scorer, leave with a knee injury in the 85th minute. The severity could not be immediately determined.

"When it rains, it pours," Virginia Coach George Gelnovatch said.

Maryland was the better side most of the cool evening. Allen, a left back from Sidwell Friends, provided the lead by redirecting Michael Marchiano's shot into the right corner for his first goal of the season and second of his career.

The Cavaliers drew even in the 31st minute. Reyering, a 6-foot-6 junior forward from Germany in his final year of eligibility, was in ideal position on the left side of the box to smash a rebound past goalkeeper Will Swaim for his 13th goal.

But the tie lasted just two minutes. Allen touched the ball ahead on the left side of the box to King, who crossed to Zusi for a one-timer into the corner and his fourth goal of the year.

"After our goal, I thought things would slow down and be okay for us, but then they got the second goal and revved back up again," Gelnovatch said.

The Terrapins, crisper in attack and better composed in the back, scored the clincher when reserve Doug Rodkey's pass liberated Kadotani for a clean run on the right side and a cool finish. King then got into the goal-scoring act, completing the seniors' productive night.

"We're playing some of our most focused soccer of the year and we have some of the preseason energy back," said Cirovski, whose team will play at North Carolina on Friday. "It's exciting."

¿ GEORGETOWN 0, NOTRE DAME 0: The host Hoyas (7-10-1, 5-5-1 Big East) were outshot 11-0 in the first half, but dominated the second overtime and settled for a tie with the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish (10-3-5, 7-0-4) in their regular season finale. Georgetown will play on the road Wednesday against an opponent to be determined in the first round of the Big East tournament.