Maryland Terrapins take down North Carolina Tar Heels in overtime

It looked to be a dream come true for No. 2 North Carolina, but quickly developed into junior forward Rob Lovejoy’s worst nightmare.

Lovejoy was tackled in the box and awarded a penalty kick with just 93 seconds left in a scoreless game Friday against No. 1 Maryland.

But Maryland (13-0-1, 6-0-0) goalkeeper Keith Cardona sniffed out the shot, and saved Lovejoy’s first career penalty kick. Cardona recovered quickly and saved UNC’s (11-2-1, 4-1-1) second attempt from midfielder Verneri Valimaa off the rebound.

Lovejoy said he wanted a little more height on the waist-high shot.

“I don’t really have any regrets. I put it on goal and the goalie made a really good save,” Lovejoy said. “He got a pretty good jump on it. Not much I can do.

“It’s been giving me nightmares the past couple nights. I keep replaying the whole thing in my mind, and I know that it’s just hard to deal with it, but at the same time I just have to move on and get the next one.”

The game continued until the 99th minute when Maryland’s Schillo Tshuma redirected a shot by Patrick Mullins past UNC goalkeeper Scott Goodwin to retain Maryland’s position atop the ACC. The 1-0 overtime win came in front of a crowd of more than 7,000 in College Park.

Tshuma fed Mullins on the left flank, and Mullins shot toward the net with Goodwin ready to cut off his shooting angle.

But Tshuma slipped past the Tar Heel defense and provided the winning deflection.

“Basically right as I tried to come across the goal, (Tshuma) met it and put it in,” Goodwin said.

The goal was the first scored on UNC in 491 minutes, dating back to its Sept. 28 match against Duke and only the fourth scored on UNC all season — the fewest goals allowed in Division I.
UNC’s offense, which typically develops slowly from the back, was tempered by a steady rain in the first half.

Coach Carlos Somoano said when the downpour started 15 minutes before kickoff, it took the Tar Heels by surprise, leaving the team scrambling to change its game plan in the first half.

“It didn’t give us any real time to talk about some adjustments,” Somoano said. “We didn’t know how heavy the field was going to be and how quick it came. That’s what I think we needed to do a better job.

“We tried to open ourselves up big and knock it around side to side like we usually do, which was virtually impossible with the field conditions.”

Goodwin made eight saves in the game against one of the top scoring offenses in the nation, getting help from timely clearances and the posts, which blocked two Maryland shots including one with 24 seconds left in regulation.

“Even after they were getting chance after chance, I don’t think I was getting worried about it,” Goodwin said. “I was just trying to focus on the next play and just keep the ball out.”

The Tar Heels couldn’t find a goal before the Terrapins, and were left to gather their things and head back to Chapel Hill defeated.

“All of us are used to not losing,” Lovejoy said. “Especially on a road game, it makes that bus ride ever so much longer.”

He hopes this won’t be the last chapter of this season’s UNC-Maryland rivalry.

“I’m praying we get to see Maryland again,” Lovejoy said. “Whether it’s in the ACC tournament or in the NCAA tournament, I can’t wait to see them on the field again, and hopefully it’ll be a different result.”

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