TOWSON, Maryland, Friday, September 1, 2017 - Two years ago - the year was 2015 - and Maryland and UCLA were locked in a tie and were playing in overtime. Two years ago, a freshman by the name of Sebastian Elney snuck inside of the UCLA defense during the overtime period and scored a golden goal, which is a goal that ends the game in favor of the team that scored the goal. Hence, two years ago, Maryland beat UCLA by that golden goal.
Fast forward to Friday Night, September 1, 2017, and once again UCLA is playing in College Park against Maryland. Both teams are ranked. Twice, UCLA has come from behind to earn a tie score. Now, the tied score has the two teams playing in overtime. There is another huge crowd on hand, but they are all but silent as the two teams make runs at the opponent's goal. Elney is again on the pitch but hasn't scored yet this season.
But suddenly, there he is again, inside the Bruin defense and taking one of those quick, hard shots. UCLA Keeper Kevin Silva never gets a good read on Elney or his shot, and in an instant the ball is past him and into the net. Once again, Elney has beaten UCLA on Ludwig Field. What are the odds? The two teams had played the regulation 90 minutes and 8 minutes of the first overtime when Elney struck gold.
The Terps, ranked No. 6, improved to 3-0 while the Bruins, up to No. 15, dropped to 1-1.
In a first half that saw only 7 shots taken, the two teams went to their locker rooms tied at 0-0. In the second half, 17 shots were taken and 4 goals were scored.
Gordon Wild scored his second goal of the season on a penalty kick at 55:19 of the second half to give Maryland the lead, 1-0. The Bruins allowed that lead to last just over 12 minutes, then Erik Holt scored unassisted at 67:35, Eric Matzelevich gave the lead back to the Terps at 72:31 on a 45 foot bomb, which was assisted by Eryk Williamson. Just seven minutes later, Brian Hoski got his third goal of the season on a free kick taken just outside of the penalty box. It tied the score at 2-2, which is where it stayed through the remainder of regulation time and through 8 minutes of overtime. Then came Elney. The ever-present Jake Rozhansky was credited with an assist, and what an assist it was. The long pass landed right at Elney's feet, and Elney did a great job of settling it and getting a prompt shot off. When Rozhansky controlled the ball, he was to the Keeper's right, and he lifted the pass all the way across the box to Elney.
Maryland has until Monday evening, which is Labor Day, to rest until California Polytechnic comes to College Park.
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