Terps Face Two Non-Conference Teams At Home This Week
10/16/2000 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 16, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The Maryland men's soccer team, fresh off a two-win week last week, has moved back into the regional rankings heading into this week's action. The No. 6 team in the South-Atlantic Region after knocking off regional foes George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth, Maryland (7-6) strung together back-to-back wins for the first time since the beginning of September. Finally starting to come together as a team, the Terrapins shut out both teams they faced last week, with a 4-0 decision over George Mason and a 1-0 win at Virginia Commonwealth.
South-Atlantic Region Standings School Record Pts 1. Virginia 9-3-1 50 2. James Madison 11-1-1 45 3. Loyola 9-2-0 38 4. Old Dominion 7-4-1 32 5. Georgetown 7-4-1 29 6. Maryland 7-6-0 25 7. UMBC 10-4-0 22 8. Va. Commonwealth 6-6-1 15 9. Mt. St. Mary's 9-3-1 11 10. Richmond 8-5-1 7
Maryland meets two more non-conference foes this week when Duquesne and William & Mary come to town. The Dukes and Terps square-off for the first time ever this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field. Maryland plays host again Sunday for the second part of a doubleheader when William & Mary hit College Park. The men's soccer game will start at approximately 2:30 p.m., or immediately following the women's soccer game vs. William & Mary that starts at noon.
The Dukes in 2000
Wednesday's meeting between Duquesne and Maryland will be the first-ever in series history with the Dukes bringing a 7-6-2 overall record. Dave Gingrich (3 goals, 3 assists) and Dan Hartung (3 goals and 2 assists) spearhead the Dukes' offensive efforts. Terry McNeils has played every minute of every game for Duquesne this year, and has a 0.80 gga.
Thompson Bursts Onto The Scene With 13 Points in Last Four Games
Freshman striker Abe Thompson (Fairfax Station, Va.) netted his first career hat trick in the Terps' 5-1 victory over Monmouth on Oct. 4, added two more goals against George Mason on Oct. 11, and netted the game-winner on Oct. 14 against Virginia Commonwealth. The talented freshman also assisted the Terps' lone goal against North Carolina on Oct. 7 to cap off a four-game 13-point stretch. Thompson now leads Maryland in scoring with nine goals and three assists. Thompson's three-goal performance against Monmouth marked the first-ever hat trick at Ludwig Field, and is the Terps' first hat trick since 1994 when Shane Dougherty (1995-96) hit for three at Denton Field in Maryland's 5-0 defeat of Butler.
Salyer Shines At Both Ends of the Field For Terrapins
Freshman Philip Salyer (Dallas, Texas) has been an asset in both the defensive and offensive halves of the field all season. At the beginning of the year, Salyer immediately stepped into a starting role on Maryland's defensive, further complementing the veteran unit of Nick Downing (Redmond, Wash.), Beckett Hollenbach (Havertown, Pa.), and Mike Shebuski (Bloomington, Ind.) and spelling the loss of Dan Califf (1998-99) in the back.
After the Terps were bitten by the injury bug, Salyer was moved into the midfield to give the team a lift. He did just that, scoring four goals in a four-game stretch between Sept. 27 and Oct. 7. Salyer scored twice in Maryland's 3-0 win over American on Sept. 27, notching Maryland's first and last goals of the day. He also tied the game at three for the Terrapins on Oct.1 against Wake Forest. Against North Carolina on Oct. 7, he scored the Terps' only goal of the day. Against George Mason on Oct. 11, Salyer was moved back to the defense, accepting the assignment to mark Eduardo Lima, the nation's third-leading goal scorer. Entering Wednesday's game, Lima was 1.2 goals per game and 2.60 points per game. Salyer held the striker scoreless through 90 minutes, breaking Lima's string of seven-straight games with a goal, displaying once again that he is another one of the bright stars in college soccer.
Cirovski Three Away From 100
Entering his eighth year at Maryland, head coach Sasho Cirovski has compiled a 97-56-14 (.608) record. A 1985 graduate of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Cirovski owns a 123-68-14 (.634) through his first nine years of head coaching. Cirovski sits just three wins away from the 100-win plateau at Maryland, and would be only the second coach in Maryland history to reach the milestone. Doyle Royal (1946-73), who coached at Maryland for the first 28 years of the program, is the only other Terrapin head coach with 100 or more. Cirovski has 14 or more wins in each of his last six seasons, and has five more regular season games, plus the postseason to achieve the milestone. The Terps' 3-0 win against American on Sept. 27 marked the 200th game Cirovski has coached in his career.
Freshmen Four Lead Scoring
The top four Terrapin scorers this season are new faces on the Maryland roster. Freshman Abe Thompson leads the Terps with nine goals and two assists, with classmate Bryan Vitagliano (Scottsdale, Ariz.) second with four goals and three assists. Freshman Clarence Goodson (Springfield, Va.) has moved into the No. 3 spot after scoring two against George Mason last Wednesday. Freshman Philip Salyer (Springfield, Va.) rounds out the Terps' top four scorers heading into the Duquesne game, with four goals and an assist.
Freshmen Grades Are Coming In
With the injuries to key performers like Scott Buete (Bowie, Md.), A.J. Herrera (Albuquerque, N.M.), Sumed Ibrahim (Tamale, Ghana) and Siba Mohammed (Tamale, Ghana), the Terps have had to turn elsewhere to produce the scoring they need to win games. That means that Maryland's freshmen have had to come of age that much faster.
Five out of 11 Terrapins who have scored goals this season are freshmen (Clarence Goodson, Philip Salyer, Seth Stammler, Abe Thompson and Bryan Vitagliano)- that's almost 50 percent. Of the 30 goals scored for the Terps this season, 22 have been converted by players who haven't even received their first-semester grades yet. 22 of 30 gives the freshmen over 73 percent of the Terrapins' goal-scoring punch. Don't think the upperclassmen are just standing around watching them, though. Twenty of Maryland's 30 assists have been dealt by upperclassmen. Junior co-captain Nick Downing leads the way in the set-up category with seven assists.
Bitten by the Injury Bug
Sophomore Scott Buete suffered a broken foot during the 36th minute of the Indiana game on Sept. 8, beginning an injury streak previously unseen by head coach Sasho Cirovski. Buete will miss the rest of the season, but will apply for a medical redshirt. The sophomore starter underwent surgery on Sept. 13. Sophomore A.J. Herrera has also suffered an season-ending foot injury, and will likely redshirt as well. On Friday, Sept. 29, both Siba Mohammed and Matt Roberts (Hillsborough, N.J.) underwent operations to correct lingering knee problems from earlier surgeries. They pair joins Buete and Herrera on the sidelines for the rest of 2000. In what the Terps hope is the final wave of surgeries for the team, Herrera and freshman Jason Arnold (Fairfax Station, Va.) both underwent surgery last week to have screws inserted in their feet to stabalize stress fractures. All total, nine out of 21 Terps have sustained injuries which have caused them to miss either entire games, crucial minutes of play, or the remainder of the season. Four were projected starters before the 2000 campaign began.
