COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Providence College men’s soccer team advanced to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament after rallying with four second half goals to defeat the No. 1 Maryland Terrapins. The Friars improve to 14-6 and the Terps finish their season 18-1-2.


The Terrapin’s leading scorer Gordon Wild tallied the first goal of the game in the sixth minute of play off of a free kick from 35 yards out, giving Maryland the lead, 1-0.


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Four minutes later Julian Gressel (Neustadt an der Aisch, Germany) evened the score after Brendan Constantine (Glastonbury, Conn.) forced a turnover in midfield and sent a pass to Gressel, who knocked the ball just behind the defender and to a one-on-one opportunity with Maryland’s goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier. The goal marked Gressel’s 13th of the season.


Amar Sejdic put the Terps ahead, 2-1, again off of a free-kick, in the 22nd minute from 40 yards out.


Providence made efforts to even the score but Niedermeier turned them aside. Brendan Reardon (Nesconset, N.Y.) took a high shot off the rush that Niedermeier barely got a hand on. In the 35th minute Gressel had another one-on-one opportunity with the keeper, but Niedermeier was able to save.


In the 51st minute Maryland took a two-goal lead when D.J. Reeves took a shot Nick Sailor (Bloomfield, Conn.) saved off the goal line and the rebound popped out to Sejdic, who fired the ball back into the Friar goal.


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After a flurry in front of the net, Maryland put in a fourth goal in the 54th minute from Eryk Williamson.


Colin Miller (Bel Air, Md.) made two saves in the first half and Providence registered five shots, three on goal.





Gressel tallied his 14th goal of the season and second of the game in the 70th minute, after a corner kick taken by Joao Serrano (Evora, Portugal). Niedermeier made the initial save but the ball bounced around in the box and Gressel turned on a shot to make it 4-2.


Nick Sailor scored his first of the season 36 seconds later from 30 yards out on the sideline. Sailor’s shot curled into the far corner of the net, just inside the post to cut Maryland’s lead to 4-3.


Steven Kilday (Marshfield, Mass.) scored his first collegiate goal in the 75th minute Danny Griffin (Wethersfield, Conn.) misfired on a shot at the top of box and deflected to Kilday standing 25 yards out. Kilday took an immediate hard shot that made its way through traffic and into the Maryland goal to even the score, 4-4.


Serrano added a goal of his own on a corner kick in the 82nd minute. Serrano’s shot went in the far corner of the net, untouched.


Colin Miller finished the match with five saves, three coming in the final ten minutes of play to keep the Terps at bay. Niedermier made a total of four saves.





Providence’s five goals marked the first time a visiting team has scored four or more goals at Ludwig field since Oct. 19, 2013.


The game marks the first time the Friars have scored five goals on the road since Aug. 29, 2003, a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart.


The Friars advance to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history and will face BIG EAST rival Creighton in the next round on either Nov. 26 or Nov. 27 at a location to be announced.