Sophomore Gordon Wild netted a hat trick to lead the No. 1 Maryland men’s soccer team to a 3-2 double overtime victory over Delaware Tuesday night.
Wild – who is second nationally in goals scored with 14 – scored the game-winner, his sixth of the year, in the 107th minute to give Maryland (14-0-2, 6-0-1 B1G) its 11th straight win. The Terps have not lost since falling to Ohio State in Columbus on Oct. 31, 2015 – a stretch of 21-consecutive matches. With the win, Maryland wrapped up its first perfect home regular season (11-0) since 2005, when it captured the national championship.
Maryland struck first, picking up the early lead in the fourth minute. Wild finished to the near post after Amar Sejdic’s league-leading ninth assist of the year on a through ball from the far side of the box.
Delaware scored the equalizer at 22:39 on a Guillermo Delgado header from five yards after a cross from Carlos Perales. The Blue Hens got the go-ahead again from Delgado off a rebound from a Cody Niedermeier save in the 73rd minute.
But Wild would pull the Terps back to even when he scored off a beautiful play three minutes later. George Campbell had a back flick to Chris Odoi-Atsem, who had a fantastic run down the near sideline. Odoi-Atsem then served a ball from 20 yards to Wild for the finish and a 2-2 contest.
It would once again be Wild in the second bonus frame. Jake Rozhansky won a ball towards midfield and dished to Eryk Williamson, who threaded ball into the center of the box for Wild’s third goal of the night.
“We have a love affair with our fans and it seems we want to make things exciting to keep them coming back,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “It’s a great result against a very good Delaware team. Two of the best forwards in the country put on a show. They were a very good counter-attacking team, a very good passing team and they posed some problems for us.
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