Terrapins Fall in Showdown With Top-Ranked Deacons

Wake Forest 4, Maryland 2

Swaying spotlights carved the stormy sky at the main entrance, and a line of students snaked along the edge of a quickly filling parking lot two hours before kickoff to get a prime seat and a giveaway T-shirt.

Marquee matches have become commonplace in College Park, where Maryland's rise to college soccer's upper stratum began a decade ago. But last night's visit by Wake Forest -- unbeaten, untied, top ranked in every poll and reigning NCAA champion -- enriched the merry setting and offered the surging Terrapins their most daunting test of the season.

Maryland's goal in the first minute added to the fervor, but the Demon Deacons overcame two deficits before halftime and pulled away for a 4-2 victory before a Ludwig Field record turnout of 6,500.

"They showed their experience and their class," Terrapins Coach Sasho Cirovski said. "You saw the difference between a team that just has a little bit more savvy in the attack and a team that is going to be there real soon."

Wake Forest (8-0, 2-0 ACC) stretched its winning streak to a program-record 13 games. The Terrapins, No. 2 or 3 in the rankings, lost for the first time in six games. After conceding just three goals in the first seven matches, Maryland (6-2, 2-1) was overwhelmed by a Wake Forest attack averaging more than three per game.

"We kept getting stronger as the match went," Demon Deacons Coach Jay Vidovich said. "We rebounded from the first goal, they came back and got another one, and then we did the same thing. We just started taking the game over at that time."

Maryland bolted into the lead on its first run as Jason Herrick headed Rodney Wallace's cross to the far corner from six yards. Wake Forest responded in the seventh minute as Marcus Tracy scored his seventh goal of the year on a blistering shot from 10 yards.

The match tightened over the next 20 minutes, but the Terrapins regained the lead when Herrick squared Jeremy Hall's pass deep inside the penalty area to freshman Casey Townsend for his team-best fifth goal. The advantage, however, slipped away before halftime. Wake Forest's Ike Opara raced past defender Omar Gonzalez and headed Danny Wenzel's long ball past goalkeeper Will Swaim.

Less than two minutes after the break, the Demon Deacons claimed the lead when Michael Lahoud crossed to unmarked Zack Schilawski in the center of the box for an easy finish.

"It was kind of like, 'Now what do we do?' " Swaim said. "We just couldn't pick our heads back up when we should have."

Shortly after Maryland's apparent equalizer was annulled by an offside call, Austin da Luz collected Tracy's entry pass, offered a tremendous fake to create space and then whipped a 12-yard shot to the far side for a 4-2 lead in the 59th minute.

Though disappointed by the result, Cirovski cherished the second turnout of more than 6,000 in a week.

"Not only was it a magnificent crowd, a great stage and a great setting, but the people stayed with this rain," he said. "There were lightning warnings, nobody left. They stuck around. The students were here [early]. For me, that was one major victory before even the kickoff."