Photo: Jason Amaya / @jay.media._
By Noah Ploff
Being ranked second in the country and having a 5-1 record is a very impressive feat. That’s where the University of Maryland Men’s Soccer team stands right now. They came into this year after a very impressive season where they went undefeated in the regular season, only losing to a strong UCLA team in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, and to the eventual national champion Washington Huskies in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. After going undefeated in the regular season, those two losses came as a shock and as a disappointment.
Cirovski and Preseason Outlook
Head coach Sasho Cirovski however, being the excellent coach that he is, decided that he wasn’t going to take those losses to heart, but he was going to put his head down and prepare for this season. Cirovski has 32 years of experience, and has led the Terrapins to three national championships, nine college cup appearances, and 17 conference titles. This impressive resume has led Cirovski to be known as one of the best and most feared college soccer coaches.
Maryland was ranked number seven in the preseason rankings, and still had something to prove. There’s a fire that gets set under the best teams and propels them to become the best, and Maryland needs to find that fire again. They had a solid preseason, including a game against powerhouse North Carolina.
Hot Start to Season
To begin their season the Terps headed up to Pittsburgh to play Pitt. Said El Eyssami scored twice to put Maryland on top, and despite a goal by Pitt in the second half, they were able to hold on and earn their first win of the season.
Next Maryland would come back home to Ludwig Field to take on New Haven. New Haven scored early in the fifth minute and went into halftime with the 1-0 lead. It wasn’t too long into the second half before Henry Bernstein and Dominic Ayella pocketed back-to-back goals for the Terps to put them ahead. Shortly after Ayella scored, New Haven would score once again to tie the game at two goals a piece. The captain Leon Kohl decided to take it into his own hands, and just 23 seconds after the game was tied, he smashed the game winner to send Maryland to a record of 2-0.
With these two wins the United Soccer Coaches Rankings would vote to rank them fourth in the country, moving up three spots from the preseason poll. This however wouldn’t be the highest they reached early on in the season.
For their third game of the season the Terps would stay at home and face their first ranked opponent in High Point. Throughout most of the game it seemed to be fairly even, with neither side being able to really generate any scoring chances. With the time closing in on 80 minutes freshman Rodrigo Neri would take the ball by himself and put it past the goalkeeper for High Point to put Maryland past their first ranked foe and improve to 3-0.
This ranked win, along with losses from some of the teams ranked above them, would be convincing enough for the United Soccer Coaches Rankings to move the Terps up two more spots to be ranked second in the entire country.
Beaming with their new ranking, but still feeling they have something to prove, Maryland would have their third home game in a row, hosting Delaware. The Terps would break the game open early, with goals in the sixth and ninth minutes, by Albi Ndrenika and Rodrigo Neri. Delaware would counter with a goal just over 10 minutes later, but Zack Harris would put Maryland back ahead before halftime. As the second half progressed, Delaware began to shift the momentum with two unanswered goals to tie the game at three. Dennis Kalanzi decided he wasn’t going to let the Terps win streak end, and scored to defeat the hens and move to 4-0.
Top-Five Showdown
After a great start to the season and going 4-0, Maryland was coming into their most anticipated game yet, against the Georgetown Hoyas. The Hoyas were coming into the game ranked fifth in the country, just three spots below the Terps. This game not only featured two of the top teams in the country, but also two of the top coaches in the country. The stage was set for this to be a battle.
Georgetown opened this game with their first goal off of a corner. The corner was sent into the box and headed towards the Maryland goalkeeper Laurin Mack. Mack made a great original save, but there was a rebound that was slotted into the back of the net to put Georgetown up 1-0. Maryland would then score three straight to take the lead by a score of 3-1 with under 10 minutes left. From there it was up to the Terps to hold strong defensively and not surrender the lead. Georgetown was able to cut into that lead with a goal about five minutes before the games ended, but wasn’t able to go any further than that. Maryland was able to hold out and extend their winning streak and their record to 5-0.
Northwestern Setback
Next, the Terps would travel out to Illinois to take on Northwestern. Northwestern came into this game with a 2-2-1 record, making this seem like a good game for Maryland. Their record and ranking may have gotten to their head a little bit, as the Wildcats would score four goals, and shutout the Terps. This loss came as a shock to fans who had been watching the team so far.
While a 4-0 loss is definitely a setback, this can just be considered a hiccup and some extra firepower for them to feed off of as they move on through the season. A 5-1 start to the season and being ranked second in the country is a pretty great start, but like Maryland just saw, anything can happen, and we haven’t really seen anything yet.
