No. 10 Terps Open Season At Virginia Soccer Classic
8/29/2002 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 29, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
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For the third year in a row, No. 10 Maryland will open its regular-season schedule with the Virginia Soccer Classic and then hosts the Cavaliers for a tournament of its own. Maryland plays Rhode Island on Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. to open tournament action and then meets No. 20 Kentucky on Sept. 1 at noon.
The Maryland/FILA Classic begins on Sept. 6 with No. 4 Virginia making the trip this time to meet Virginia Commonwealth at 5 p.m. The Terps meet No. 17 Penn State for the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. on Ludwig Field to round out the opening night of tournament action on Friday. Virginia then takes on the Nittany Lions on Sunday at noon with Maryland hosting VCU at 2:30 p.m. to end the third annual tournament.
Last Year at the Virginia Classic
Maryland returns to Charlottesville for the Virginia Soccer Classic after taking the tournament's title last year with a 2-1 overtime upset of then-No. 7 UCLA and a 2-1 win over Liberty. A.J. Herrera (Albuquerque, N.M.), Scott Buete (Bowie, Md.), Philip Salyer (2000-01) and Beckett Hollenbach (1998-2001) earned all-tournament recognition, with Sayler collecting tournament MVP honors for scoring the golden goal against UCLA.
All-Time at the Virginia Soccer Classic
Maryland has gone undefeated in the last two Virginia Soccer Classics for a 4-0 record overall, but was edged out by the Cavs for the tournament championship in 2000 on overall goals scored. Maryland won the tournament last year with a 2-1 overtime win against then-No. 7 UCLA and a 2-1 win over Liberty.
Individuals in the Virginia Soccer Classic
Five returning Terps have scored points in the Virginia Soccer Classic. Scott Buete leads all returners with two goals and two assists over the past two tournaments. Buete's performances have earned him all-tournament team recognition both years. A.J. Herrera has netted three goals on Klockner Stadium's turf during the Virginia Soccer Classic. Abe Thompson (Fairfax Station, Va.) and Bryan Vitagliano (Scottsdale, Ariz.) have each pitched in with a goal. Sumed Ibrahim (two assists) and Seth Stammler (one assist) are the only other returning Terps to score in the Virginia Soccer Classic.
Causey Returns Home
Maryland assistant coach Jeff Causey should feel right at home in Charlottesville this weekend after playing at Virginia and later taking a short stint as an assistant coach there.
Causey still holds several of Virginia's goalkeeping records including the single-season record for saves (88 saves in 1990) and the career records for saves (249), shutouts (27), minutes played (7,050) and games played (77).
All-Time vs. Rhode Island and No. 20 Kentucky
Maryland has never met Kentucky or Rhode Island in men's soccer previous to this weekend's match-ups. Rhode Island was picked to win this year's Atlantic-10 title, and is unranked by the NSCAA's preseason poll. No. 20 Kentucky was also picked to win it's conference crown, as well as the Mid-American Tournament title.
Rhode Island spent its preseason overseas, returning to American soil with a 2-2-2 record. Kentucky's two exhibition games were at the IPFW Showcase and resulted in a 1-1 tie against No. 1 Indiana and a 1-3 loss to Michigan State.
This is the first time since the 2000 season that the Terps will meet a team from the Atlantic-10. That year, the Terps blanked Duquesne 4-0 at Ludwig Field on Oct. 18. The last time Maryland tangled with a team from the Mid-American conference was in 1999 when it defeated Marshall 4-0 on Sept. 8 at home.
Terps in Season Openers
Maryland is 32-21 in season openers and has won its last two. The Terrapins beat Jacksonville on Sept. 1, 2000, 4-1 and UCLA last year 2-1 in overtime. Both game opened the Virginia Soccer Classic.
When Starting in August
Maryland has only opened the regular season in August three other times in the program's 56 year history. The Terps started 2001 on Aug. 30 in the Virginia Soccer Classic, winning 2-1 in overtime against then-No. 7 UCLA. Previously, the last time UM opened in August was in 1997 when Maryland traveled to Adelphi on Aug. 29 and secured a 5-1 win. Maryland has only started the season in August one other time, a 1996 2-1 loss to George Mason on Aug. 30.
Exhibition Recap- DC United & OSU
After a 1-0 loss to DC United on Aug. 21, the Terps traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to meet Ohio State in the College Cup Preview last Friday. The game, played at Columbus Crew Stadium, ended in a 3-1 Maryland victory. Redshirt-sophomore Abe Thompson scored twice, with junior transfer Nino Marcantonio (Bethesda, Md.) adding the third goal. A full game recap can be found in the right-hand column of this page.
Cirovski Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The 2002 season marks the 10th year that head coach Sasho Cirovski has guided the Terrapin men's soccer program. The Terps' bench boss has piloted the program to a 111-70-9 record during his 10 years in College Park. Cirovski, a 1986 graduate of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is entering his 12th year overall and has a 137-82-15 career record.
Under Cirovski, the Terrapins have over 100 wins, a 1998 appearance in the national semifinals, and eight NCAA appearances. Maryland won the 1996 ACC Championship and has had numerous Terrapins sign professional contracts in the United States and abroad.
No Seniors? No Problem!
With no seniors to be found, the Terrapin lineup may look inexperienced, but looks can be deceiving. Fact is, four Terrapins were on the roster in 1999 when the team earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking from Soccer America.
In addition, eight Terps have been with Maryland for at least three years, six of which have had to take a medical redshirt for a year.
Sophomore goalkeeper? Also not a problem. Fact:starting netminder Noah Palmer (Williamsburg, Va.) was in the hotspot last season for 17 games, finishing with an 11-7-1 record.
Pensky and Former Cav Causey Join Terps
There are two new faces on the Terrapin sideline this season in Brian Pensky and Jeff Causey. Pensky was most recently at Loyola, where he was an assistant coach for the Greyhounds' women's soccer team. Pensky also served a stint at George Washington as an assistant and brings a wealth of club and ODP coaching from both the men's and women's side.
A Virginia graduate, Causey was on 1996 MLS Champions DC United, and most recently played for the New England Revolution. At UVa, Causey earned third-team All-American accolades in goal in 1993, the same year the Cavaliers won their third NCAA and ACC championship in a row. Causey still holds several of Virginia's goalkeeping records including the single-season record for saves (88 saves in 1990) and the career records for saves (249), shutouts (27), minutes played (7,050) and games played (77).
The duo replaces Sasho Cirovski's longtime assistant coach Jeff Rohrman, who left in the spring to take a head coaching job at Wisconsin.
Terrapin Tri-Captains
Three Terps take over the role of captain this year: Scott Buete, Seth Stammler, and Abe Thompson. Buete, a redshirt-junior, has started 39 of the 40 games he has played for Maryland and has five goals and 13 assists. The Bowie, Md., native has played everywhere from striker to attacking midfielder to a defensive midfield position in his four years as a Terp and redshirted his sophomore year after breaking a bone in his foot.
Stammler, no stranger to position changes himself, has transitioned from being a striker to a marking back last year and now has taken the reigns of the central defense with the departure of All-American Beckett Hollenbach (1998-2001). A junior from Gahanna, Ohio, he has seven career goals and four assists in 28 starts and 38 appearances. He started every game last season for Maryland.
Thompson is the youngest captain, only a sophomore in eligibility, but has still been with the Terps for three years. The striker from nearby Fairfax, Va., was the Terps leading scorer in 2000 with 31 points off 13 goals and 5 assists in 19 starts before redshirting the 2001 season with a broken foot.
Leading Scorers Return to Terp Lineup
Maryland returns it's leading scorers from the past two years in Sumed Ibrahim and Abe Thompson. This is the first year the duo will hit the field together, as injuries have kept at least half of the potent Terps' attack on the sidelines for the past two years. In 2000, it was Sumed Ibrahim who took a medical redshirt because of a fracture in his foot. That year, Thompson exploded onto the scene his freshman year, scoring 13 goals and adding five assists. His 31 points tied him for 10th on the Terps' single-season points list.
The 2001 season saw Thompson relegated to the sidelines due to a break in his right foot. Sumed took over and tallied 13 assists, which marks the third-best single season assist total in school history. The speedy midfielder also added nine goals for a 31-point season, tying him with Thompson at the 10-spot on the single season charts.
Lancos with the U.S.Under-20s
Maryland fans have yet to see freshman Chris Lancos (Middletown, N.J.) wear the red, black, gold and white because the high school All-American has been representing the Stars and Stripes for the U.S. Under-20 team for the past few weeks.
The U.S.Under-20s are 3-1 in the XIX C.O.T.I.F. Torneig Internacional being held in L'Alcudia, Spain. The team has a 2-1 win over Spain on Aug. 26 and a 5-2 victory over Ukraine on Aug. 27, in which Lancos received the starting nod. The U.S. started tournament action with a loss to Brazil, 2-1, on Aug. 24.
In semifinal action on Aug. 28, the U.S. team beat Uraguay 3-1 to advance to the finals to meet Brazil on Aug. 29.
The U.S. team is 4-2-2 in international tournaments in 2002. The XIX C.O.T.I.F. Torneig Internacional is the team's final international tournament before the World Youth Championships at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C., which will be held from November 13-17. The top four teams from that tournament will advance to the World Youth Championships, which will be held in United Arab Emirates from March 25-April 16, 2003.
Lancos will join the Terps on Aug. 30 in Charlottesville after the team's game with Rhode Island and should eventually give the Terps a solid boost on the backline.
Terrapins Ranked 10th by NSCAA
Maryland has been ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll released by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Eight of the Terps' opponents this season are ranked in the poll, including four teams ranked in the NSCAA's Top 10. Maryland's ranking is its highest since the Sept. 4 poll of the 2001 season when they were ranked No. 5.
Of the Terps' eight opponents that are ranked in the preseason poll, four of the teams are ACC foes. Defending NCAA Champion North Carolina is the Terps' highest ranked opponent at No. 4. ACC rival Virginia is No. 5, with Connecticut coming in at No. 6 and Clemson one slot ahead of the Terps at No. 9. Penn State, one of the three teams in the Maryland/FILA Classic, is ranked 17th in the poll, with Kentucky at No. 20. Loyola, who eliminated the Terps from the NCAA Tournament last year is at No. 22 and Wake Forest tied for 24th.
