Well, that wasn’t a very nice way to end things.

The Saint Louis University men’s soccer team saw its chance to advance past the third round of the NCAA Tournament slip away Sunday afternoon, in a disappointing 1-0 loss to No. 2 Maryland.

“It was an even match, and the outcome could have gone either way,” said Billiken goalkeeper Martin Hutton. “It was a hard-fought match. I don’t think Maryland had more talent, but when good teams step out onto the battlefield, the lucky one comes out on top.”

The Billikens and the Terrapins engaged in head-to-head battle for 45 minutes of first-half play and appeared so evenly matched that neither team was able to gain a distinct advantage before halftime.

In the second half, Maryland took charge and control of the game late in the period.

Maryland’s Domenic Mediate posed a serious threat to the Bills throughout the half and came dangerously close to scoring the game winner in the 70th minute. Billiken defender Andy Pusateri slipped on the slick grass and allowed Mediate to breeze past him and receive a pass at the top of the penalty area.

Hutton dropped to the ground to recover the ball, but Mediate managed to get around Hutton and streak toward the goal.

Pusateri regained his position and teamed with Nick Gannon to toe the ball out of play, before Mediate could manage a dangerous shot.

Kevin Wickart did his best to mount a Billiken attack, serving several deadballs and corners into the penalty area, but no Billiken could connect with the ball to gain the advantage in the game.

Jason Cole and Jack Jewsbury, usually SLU’s leading attackers, were silenced by Maryland’s stifling defense and saw limited looks on goal.

“[Maryland’s defense] did a good job of taking our main guys out of the game,” said forward Jack Jewsbury. “They took away our chances and kept pressure all over the field. They had one or two guys on the ball at all times.”

At the end of 90 minutes of regulation play, the game was deadlocked at zero, forcing sudden-victory overtime.

Early in the OT period, Mediate led another too-close-for-comfort attack against the Bills, nailing a shot into the post that just deflected wide.

Finally, Mediate took advantage of an unfortunate decision by Hutton in the 95th minute.

The Terps’ midfield sent a long ball past the last two Billiken defenders and Hutton after a goalkick, and Mediate both began charging the ball.

Hutton anticipated reaching the ball first and called his defenders off the ball, but Mediate caught the Billiken keeper by surprise and got to the ball first, just a few yards outside of the penalty area.

Hutton was forced to face Mediate alone and had to try to kick the ball away from Mediate rather than use his hands to scoop up the ball.

Hutton kicked at the ball and managed to make contact, but his strike went straight to Mediate, who chested the ball down and took one final touch before planting the shot into the goal for the devastating end of the match.

“It was a lucky bounce, a ‘hand of God,’ play” Hutton said.

“I called the defense off the ball and Nick Gannon backed off. I struck the ball, and it went to the opposing player … I’ll stand by my decision, you can never second guess those kinds of decisions,” he added.

Even though the goal marked the second consecutive postseason heartbreaker, Hutton is confident the team can use the experience to become stronger next year, despite losing a core group of seniors.

“We can use this experience as a maturing feature and take it with us next year,” Hutton said. “We will be hungry next year, even more so next year, since we have been unlucky the last two years.”