Terrapins Square-Off Against Loyola In Key Regional Game
10/24/2000 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 24, 2000
College Park, Md. - The Maryland men's soccer team (9-6, 1-3) transitions back into its ACC schedule this week after a five-game hiatus, but not before it hosts a pivotal regional game against No. 23 Loyola. The Greyhounds sit fourth in the South Atlantic region rankings for this week, just one spot ahead of Maryland. The Terps enter the 7 p.m.-tilt on a four-game win streak and have shut out their last four opponents. The No. 24 Clemson Tigers then roll into Ludwig Field Saturday for a 7 p.m. ACC tilt that starts off a two-game conference stretch to end the Terps' regular season at Charlottesville against the Cavaliers on Nov. 3. The ACC Tournament looms on the horizon just three games and less than two weeks away, but until the Terps take care of regional and regular season conference business, the tournament might as well be months away as the Terps hone in on the next three games one opponent at a time.
The Maryland/Loyola Series
The Terps bring a five-game winning streak against Loyola into the match-up on Wednesday, including a 4-0 win last year. The last time Maryland lost to the Greyhounds was in 1992, during the last year of head coach Alden Shattuck's tenure. Maryland and Loyola also played to a scoreless tie in 1993, Sasho Cirovski's first year as the Terps' head coach. Cirovski has never lost to the Greyhounds in his career as Maryland's head coach.
Senior Nick Purdom (Orange, Calif.) is the only healthy Terrapin on the current roster to score against Loyola last season. Purdom had an assist on the Terps last goal of the day, which was netted by Siba Mohammed (Tamale, Ghana). Kevin Schmidt (Westfield, N.J.) was in goal for the Terps last season against Loyola, steppping in for the injured Christian Lewis (Ellicott City, Md.). He made two saves and allowed no goals in 90 minutes of play.
Thompson Scoring Streak To
Freshman striker Abe Thompson (Fairfax Station, Va.) extended his scoring streak to six games on Sunday when he scored the game-winner against William & Mary. The streak started on Oct. 4 when Thompson netted his first career hat trick in the Terps' 5-1 victory over Monmouth. He 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 and added two more assists on Oct. 18 against Duquesne to help string together six-straight games with at least one point each. Thompson now leads Maryland in scoring with 10 goals and five assists, and has scored 17 points (seven goals, three assists) in the last six games- an average of almost three points per game.
Cirovski Hits 125 Career Wins, One Away From 100 At Maryland
In his eighth year at Maryland, head coach Sasho Cirovski has compiled a 99-56-14 (.627) record. A 1985 graduate of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Cirovski owns a 125-68-14 (.638) through his first nine years of head coaching. The Terps' 3-0 win against American on Sept. 27 marked the 200th game Cirovski has coached in his career, and Maryland's 1-0 victory against William & Mary on Oct. 22 stood as his 125th career victory. Cirovski sits just steps away from one more career milestone this season. If he wins today, it will be his 100th career win at Maryland. A win against Loyola would make him 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 victories with the red, black, gold, and white.
Salyer Shines 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 Danny 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. Before that 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 college soccer's bright stars.
Salyer is currently the Terps' fourth-leading scorer after recording an assist on Abe Thompson's game-winner against Maryland.
Top Five Terp Scorers Freshman
After freshman Seth Stammler's two goals against Duquesne, he moved into the Top 5 Maryland scorers for this season. Now, the first five scorers on Terps' list are all new faces on the Maryland roster. Freshman Abe Thompson leads Maryland with 10 goals and five assists, with Clarence Goodson (Springfield, Va.) second with four goals and five assists. Classmate Bryan Vitagliano (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is third with four goals and three assists. Stammler and Philip Salyer (Springfield, Va.) are tied for fourth with four goals and two assists each.
