ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Danny Lokko scored twice in a wild final 10 minutes, aiding the Cornell men's soccer team to its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1977 with a 2-1 win over Maryland on Sunday afternoon at a frigid Berman Field.

The 14th-seeded Big Red (14-3-1) will travel to face the No. 3 seed Syracuse next weekend in the third round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship.

"Today was a total team effort," said John Smith, the Dr. Daniel P. Wood Head Coach of Men's Soccer. "Enough can't be said about the incredible job our athletic department did to ensure we got to play this game today.

"I thought our guys adapted to the conditions quickly and but for some fantastic saves from their keeper, we could have gone in at halftime with a lead. The second half was a little closer, but I thought we did a great job of limiting a hugely talented team to very few good looks at our goal. A game like this is always going to be won on either a mistake or a moment of brilliance. Danny produced two moments of brilliance today."

Maryland's Albi Ndrenika scored the lone goal for the Terrapins (11-4-5), while goalkeeper Niklas Neumann made four saves in the setback.

A scoreless first half didn't tell the story of the match, as Cornell dominated in chances and possession in the opening 45 minutes.

The Big Red controlled possession over the first 25 minutes of the match, featuring a pair of dangerous scoring chances coming off corner kicks.

Neumann made all four of his saves of the day in the first half, making a pair of highlight-reel stops to keep an offensive-minded Big Red squad off the scoreboard.

Brandon Morales and Connor Drought had their shot attempts stopped by Neumman in quick succession in the 41st minute, to keep the match scoreless.

Cornell had a 6-1 edge in shots over Maryland in the first half.
 
Both teams were held to few chances in the first 30 minutes of the second half, as Cornell and Maryland combined for three shot attempts, all of which were off target.

Maryland had a slight advantage in possession in the second half, but the final 10 minutes changed all of that, thanks to Lokko.

Scoring in the 84th and 87th minutes, Lokko found the back of to build a 2-0 lead for Cornell. Maryland, however, gave the Big Red a scare when it netted a goal in the 88th minute with Ndernika's goal to cause some tense final moments.

The Big Red got the earned result in a game where it held an 11-5 edge in shots and a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Cornell freshman goalkeeper Ryan Friedberg made three stops in goal for the Big Red while picking up his 14th victory of the season.

Game Notes

• Cornell and Maryland played for the first time in program history on Sunday. The Big Red have now won its last two matches against Big Ten opposition, also beating Michigan State in overtime in 2019.

• The victory for Cornell was the program's first in the NCAA Tournament since 1977, when it defeated Long Island in overtime, 2-1, in first-round action. It also was Cornell's first second-round victory in the NCAA Tournament since defeating Hartwick, 2-1, to advance to the quarterfinals in 1975.

• Cornell will be the first Ivy League team to play beyond the second round in an NCAA Tournament since Brown made a third-round appearance in 2011.

• The win was Cornell's 14th of the season, marking the third-most wins by a Cornell squad in program history. Only the 1995 and 2012 teams had more wins, when they went 15-2-1 and 15-2-0, respectively.

• With the win, Cornell improved to 18-2-3 (.848) at Berman Field since the beginning of the 2019 season. The .848 win percentage is the sixth-highest in the Division I ranks during the span, only trailing Georgetown (.904), New Hampshire (.897), Missouri State (.890), Kentucky (.862), and Washington (.857).

• Lokko recorded his first multi-goal performance and has scored all three of his collegiate goals over the last two matches.

• With his win, Friedberg is now tied with Quinn O'Sullivan for the second-most wins by a Cornell goalkeeper, when O'Sullivan also had 14 victories in 1995. Rick Pflasterer has the program record with his 15-2-0 record in 2012.

Looking Ahead

Cornell will return to SU Soccer Stadium to face No. 3 seed Syracuse next weekend in a rematch of the Oct. 4 contest between the two Central New York teams in which the Big Red won 2-1. Date and time for the third-round match are yet to be determined.

The Big Red leads the all-time series, 32-19-6, and have split the last five meetings dating back to 2017 (2-2-1).