Photo courtesy of Maryland media relations

By AVI CREDITOR

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The second half continues to be Maryland's time.

John Stertzer scored twice in a seven-minute span in the second half to lift No. 5 Maryland (Fox Soccer/SBI) to a come-from-behind, 3-1 victory over No. 15 West Virginia in a physical battle in front of 4,629 at Ludwig Field Monday night.

Jereme Raley added an insurance goal for Maryland (2-0-0), which scored three times in the second half against a Big East opponent for the second consecutive game to open the season.

Just as it did against St. John's on Friday, Maryland's attack struggled to find its way in the final third through the first half before coming alive in the second.

Sterzer cancelled out Andy Bevin's opening goal from the penalty spot, taking the kick after Casey Townsend's cross from the left was handled in the box by centerback Uzi Tayou in the 54th minute.

"(Stertzer)'s emerging as a guy that had a short resume but now is starting to make a big impact in the college game," Cirovski said. "John has a certain callousness like a Clint Dempsey. He's not fazed. He's a pretty cool cat."

Stertzer tallied his second a few minutes later with his head, connecting with Taylor Kemp's long free kick from the right at the edge of the 6-yard box for the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute.

"All credit to Taylor on that, it was a perfect ball," Stertzer said. "I had the easy job to put it in."

Raley tacked on an important third goal after by one-timing right back Widner Saint Cyr's cross from close range in the 69th minute while Maryland carried a man advantage.

"We weren't very sharp in the final third in the first half," Cirovski said. "We did a better job in the second half of being more aggressive with our back line." 

West Virginia had been reduced to 10 men after striker Franck Tayou was sent off in the 64th minute. He collided hard with Maryland goalkeeper Will Swaim after both were going for a 50-50 ball inside Swaim's 6-yard box, prompting players on both teams to get heated before cooler heads prevailed.

"The red card was incorrect," West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "We had a goalkeeper go up for a ball and a center forward go up for a ball, and to give a kid a straight red card for that was unfortunate and poor. At the end of the day, Maryland's a very good soccer team, and I don't think they need any help. … It was a great soccer game for a long, long time, and it changed in a flash."

The Mountaineers finished the match with nine men after Matt Drake pulled Patrick Mullins down from behind just outside the box, denying a goal-scoring chance in the 88th minute, but by that point the damage had been done.

The night started off much better for the Mountaineers, who were looking to knock off their second straight ranked ACC opponent after topping Virginia Friday night.

Bevin, a New Zealand under-20 international, got a touch on Uwem Etuk's cross from the right to slide home the opening goal in the 7th minute. Raymon Gaddis started the break for West Virginia by carrying to midfield and finding Shadow Sebele, who touched a through ball out wide for Etuk.

"The goal was a brilliant combination play," LeBlanc said.

The Mountaineers didn't threaten to score much after that, though, conceding the majority of possession to Maryland while not being able to develop an offensive rhythm in a game that had a combined 39 fouls.

The Terrapins, meanwhile, did enough over the final 45 minutes to open the season with two consecutive wins for the first time since 2006.

"I told them I like the way they play their second halves, but I'd like them to play that way for the full game," Cirovski said.