No. 3 Maryland Defeats California Polytechnic, 1-0, on penalty kick by Gordon Wild. Terps improve to 4-0-0, and now prepare for Big Ten opener v. No. 6 Indiana on Friday Night

TOWSON, Maryland, Tuesday, September 5, 2017 - On a night when Maryland Keeper Dane St. Clair made no saves, and Maryland's opponent, California Polytechnic, took only three shots, none of which were on goal, the Terrapins needed a penalty kick goal by Gordon Wild to beat back the second straight California visitor to Ludwig Field, 1-0.  

Maryland outshot Cal Poly, 15-3, but the Mustang's Keeper, Simon Boehme, made seven saves in an all-around outstanding game, a performance that Maryland Coach Sasho Cirovski called "amazing."

The No. 6 Terrapins improved to 4-0, while Cal Poly dropped to 0-4.  Don't be fooled by the quality of the Cal Poly team, however.  The Mustangs played in the Notre Dame Tournament in late August, and lost to No. 7 Indiana, 2-0.  Two days later in the same tournament, they fell to No. 10 Notre Dame, 2-1, in double overtime.  On this same long road trip, Cal Poly also lost to Georgetown, 3-1.  They finally return home to San Luis Obispo to play St. Mary's this coming weekend.

Wild's shot came in the 26th minute and came after D.J. Reeves was taken down in the penalty box. It was Wild's third goal of the young season, and he leads Maryland in that category.  Cal Poly was jamming the box in front of its goal throughout the game in an effort to keep Maryland off the board.  Together with Keeper Boehme's outstanding effort, the Mustangs largely succeeded.  

Maryland's next two games are both Big Ten Conference Games, and both will be televised nationwide by the BTN Network.  Friday night at 7 pm, Indiana comes to College Park, followed by Rutgers at 8 pm on Tuesday, September 12.  

In the Top 25 Coach's poll carried at NCAA.com, Maryland moved up from No. 6 to No. 5.  Strangely, Maryland is now behind Indiana in that Poll, despite Maryland's win over UCLA.  Indiana is No. 4 in the Coach's poll. In the College Soccer News Top 30,  Maryland is No. 3 for the second straight week.

The CSN Poll has Stanford at No. 1 and Wake Forest at No. 2.  Indiana is ranked No. 6, Michigan State is No. 12, and Wisconsin is No. 28.

Another National Ranking is published by HERO Sports.  In that poll, Maryland is No, 8, but it does not appear that this poll has been renewed since August 20, although the team records is up-to-date through the moment.  In that poll, Indiana is No. 16 and Wisconsin No. 23.  Michigan State is unranked.