No. 8 Terps Open Preseason with a Trip to VCU
8/15/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 15, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 8 Maryland men's soccer team will hit the road on Saturday, August 16 when it travels to Virginia Commonwealth for an exhibition match against the Rams at 7:00 p.m. in Richmond, Va.
The friendly, which is the first of two for Maryland, will help break in a freshman class that CollegeSoccerNews.com tabbed tops in the nation. Four PARADE All-Americans highlight the group of incoming Terps, including Kaoru Forbess (Garland, Texas/Naaman Forest), Matt Kassel (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), Zach MacMath (St. Petersburg, Fla./Bradenton Academy), and Casey Townsend (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City West).
In addition to the new faces, Maryland has much to be excited about in its returnees. The Terps went 10-6-5 a year ago and made a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Maryland returns the most experience since 2005, the year the Terps won the national championship. Second-team All-ACC selections Omar Gonzalez (Dallas, Texas/Bradenton Academy) and Jeremy Hall (Tampa, Fla./Bradenton Academy) are back as well as third-team pick Rodney Wallace. Gonzalez was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2007. Senior Graham Zusi (Longwood, Fla./Lake Brantley) (6G, 6A) is the top returning scorer for the Terps offense.
VCU was picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason coaches poll. The Rams went 12-6-2 last year, including a defeat of then-No. 6 Northeastern in mid-November. Jorit Loehr (7G, 3A) and Gerson Dos Santos (7G, 2A) are poised to lead the Rams offense this season. Goalkeeper Andrew Dyskstra returns after giving up 18 goals in 20 games in 2007.
Maryland opens up its home portion of the 2008 schedule with an exhibition match against South Florida on August 22 at 7:30 p.m..
