Oct. 15, 2009

Game Notes

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Following a solid team effort against Georgetown on Tuesday, the No. 6 Maryland men's soccer team makes the journey to Clemson for an Atlantic Coast Conference match against the Tigers on Friday. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Maryland (8-3-1, 3-1-1 ACC) aims to stay in the driver's seat in the ACC as it sits atop the standings with North Carolina. Jason Herrick paces the conference in game-winners with four after netting the eventual winning score in the 12th minute at No. 16 Georgetown on Tuesday. Drew Yates also scored in the match. The Terps have won three straight heading into Friday's contest at Clemson.

The Terps return home for a non-conference battle against Seton Hall Tuesday, Oct. 20 before heading to Wake Forest Saturday, Oct. 24 for a match that will pin the last two national champions against each other.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS...
• Clemson (2-7-1, 1-3 ACC) fell at Boston College, 2-0, on Saturday in its last contest.
• Clemson's two wins have come against then-No. 11 Virginia and a 6-0 slashing of Georgia Southern. Maryland is the only other team to have more goals in a game this season as it scored seven against Duquesne.
• The Tigers are led by Nathan Thornton up top, who paces the offense with four goals. Tommy Drake leads the squad in assists with three. Joseph Bendik is the Tigers' goalkeeper and has 44 saves in ten appearances.
• Clemson, along with Penn State, are the only two programs to maintain a series advantage against Maryland all-time with a minimum of ten matches played. Clemson leads the all-time series 29-18-1. Maryland has won four out of the last six meetings.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
10/3/08 * Clemson, 5-3
10/5/07 * MARYLAND, 3-2 (OT)
9/8/06 * Clemson, 2-1
9/16/05 * MARYLAND, 3-0
11/10/04 * MARYLAND (at ACC Tourney), 2-0

FIRST TIME'S THE CHARM
• Maryland has been tremendous at keeping the lead once it gets it this season.
• The Terps are undefeated (7-0) this season when they score first.
• Maryland is 6-0 when leading heading into the second half.

CAPTAIN CLUTCH
• Maryland junior Jason Herrick has been the Terps' top clutch performer in 2009.
• The Elmhurst, Ill., product has a Maryland-best five goals this season.
• Four of the captain's five scores have been game-winners, including his goal in the 12th minute against Georgetown on Tuesday.

TERPS PICK UP PROGRAM WIN NO. 600
• The Maryland men's soccer team defeated No. 2 North Carolina, 1-0, in front of a Ludwig Field record crowd of 6,946 on Sept. 22, 2009 to pick up its 600th win in program history.
• One of the finest college soccer programs in the nation with a pair of national championships in the last four seasons, Maryland boasts a 603-301-78 record overall and 166-118-22 in conference play.

LAST TIME OUT...
• The No. 6 Maryland men's soccer team used an inspired effort Tuesday to edge past No. 16 Georgetown, 2-1, at North Kehoe Field in Washington, D.C.
• Maryland picked up goals from a pair of veterans as senior Drew Yates scored in the eighth minute and junior captain Jason Herrick netted the eventual game-winner at 11:42.
• Forbess was credited with the assist on Herrick's score. Maryland is now winners of three-straight and remains unbeaten against the Hoyas all-time (28-0).

CIROVSKI RETURNS FOR 17th SEASON
• Head coach Sasho Cirovski is in his 17th season at the helm of the storied Maryland men's soccer program and his 19th overall.
• Cirvoski's resume is nothing short of impressive, possessing a 244-105-21 record with the Terps, with a pair of national championships, 14 NCAA appearances, three ACC Tournament championships, six appearances in the College Cup, and 15-straight winning seasons.
• He became the winningest head coach in Maryland men's soccer history last season, passing long-time coach Doyle Royal.

YOUTH NATION
• Maryland boasts one of the youngest starting lineups in the country this season.
• 49 percent of the Terrapins' points (26 out of 53) this season have courtesy of the freshman and sophomore classes. In total, seven underclassmen have tallied a goal and/or an assist in 2009.
• The Terps are consistently starting three freshmen per game as Ethan White and Taylor Kemp each recently picked up their 11th start this season while Paul Torres got his fourth-straight start Tuesday in the Maryland midfield.
• Maryland had in upwards of five freshmen on the field at one time versus Georgetown on Tuesday.

THE GOLD STANDARD
• Maryland established several school-records on its way to the national title last season including wins (23) and shutouts (15) in a season as well as a program-best 16-game winning streak.

ACC- THE BEST OF THE BEST
• Last year's College Cup was filled to the brim with ACC squads as North Carolina, Wake Forest and Maryland advanced to the final four in Frisco, Texas.
• Known as the premier soccer conference in the nation, the ACC is tough again in 2009 with five teams in the top 25 and three in the top six of the latest Soccer America poll.

HOME SWEET LUDWIG
• Maryland ranked fifth in the nation in 2008 in attendance, averaging 2,545 per game.
• Ludwig Field has already had its attendance record broken twice this season as 6,718 fans came out for the Terps' season opener against UCLA and then a crowd of 6,946 commenced in Maryland's upset win against No. 2 North Carolina on Sept. 22.
• This season, Ludwig Field has grown an additional 500 seats for a total capacity of 7,000.

TOP CROWDS IN LUDWIG HISTORY
9/25/09 - North Carolina, 6,946
9/4/09 - UCLA, 6,718
9/26/08 - Wake Forest, 6,500
9/29/06 - Duke, 6,489
10/14/06 - Boston College, 6,214
10/29/05 - Indiana, 6,203

IN MEMORY OF...
• Four days after the passing of long-time Maryland athletics supporter and Maryland men's soccer fan Jack Heise, the Terps rallied for an incredible comeback against Virginia Tech on Oct. 9 at Ludwig Field.
• Jack Heise Scholarship award winner Kevin Tangney netted the game-tying score with 3:02 remaining in the game. John Stertzer put away the game-winner with 52.3 seconds left to lift the Terps to their third ACC win of the year.

RELOADED
• Despite losing all four starters from the defense in 2008, Maryland has reloaded in the back and is having another tremendous season with five shutouts in only 12 games.
• Freshmen standouts Taylor Kemp and Ethan White are joined by sophomore Alex Lee and fifth-year senior captain Kevin Tangney as well as reserve Kwame Darko in a new back line that has not batted an eye this season. Tangney, a player who already has two national championships to his name, has endured two separate ACL surgeries to win a starting spot in his final season at Maryland.
• Departed Terps from last year's back line Omar Gonzalez, A.J. Delagarza and Rodney Wallace have started nearly match for their respective MLS clubs in their rookie seasons.

TERPS IN THE PROS
• The Terps lost eight letterwinners from a year ago, including five that were drafted in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.
• Maryland, for only the second time ever in MLS history, had three players selected in the first round, including Omar Gonzalez (3rd - L.A. Galaxy), Rodney Wallace (6th - D.C. United) and Jeremy Hall (11th - New York Red Bulls).
• Joining the three Generation adidas players are departed seniors A.J. Delagarza, who was nabbed by the Galaxy with the 19th pick and College Cup Most Outstanding Player Graham Zusi, who landed in Kansas City after being selected 23rd overall.

TANGNEY SNAGS WEEKLY AWARDS
• Kevin Tangney was tabbed the Soccer America National Player of the Week in addition to picking up the Atlantic Coast Conference weekly award after scoring the game-winner against No. 2 North Carolina on Sept. 25.
• Tangney was instrumental in a pair of shutout wins for Maryland, which moved up to No. 2 in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings this week.
• Tangney was also named to College Soccer News' Team of the Week.

OFFENSIVE RETURNS
• Maryland returns 42 percent of its scoring last season including Casey Townsend, who was second on the team with 11 goals in 2008. The vast majority of the set-up men return as Doug Rodkey and Matt Kassel, who ranked first and second, respectively, in assists, will be back in the starting lineup in 2009.

KEEPING THE STREAK ALIVE
• Maryland has several streaks they look to continue in 2009.
• The program has had 15 consecutive winning seasons in addition to making seven-straight Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• In total, Maryland has been to 14 consecutive NCAA Tournaments while advancing to the final four in six of the last eight seasons.

WELCOME ROOKIES
• Once again, Cirovski and his staff have compiled a top tier recruiting class, earning a No. 2-ranking by both Soccer America and College Soccer News.
• The ten-player class is highlighted by three NSCAA All-Americans, including Taylor Kemp, Jordan Cyrus and London Woodberry, along with international standouts Widner Saint Cyr and Gonzalo Frechilla. • The tandem of Kemp and fellow freshman Ethan White have started every match since their arrival to College Park.

TOWNSEND GARNERS PRESEASON AWARD
• Maryland forward Casey Townsend was tabbed to the Soccer America Presason All-America Second Team.
• The Traverse City, Mich., native, was named an All-ACC Freshman Team selection in 2008.
• Townsend already has three goals in five games this season.

FRESHMEN NO MORE
• If Maryland hopes to be successful this season, it will rely heavily on the continued progress of its coveted sophomore class.
• Zac MacMath returns in goal after a tremendous freshman campaign. The U-20 national team product led the nation in goals against average (0.44) in 2008. The sophomore has four wins this season.
• Matt Kassel will look to improve in the midfield and joins now-healthy classmate Kaoru Forbess. Forbess notched his first career goal as a Terrapin against Loyola (Chicago) on Oct. 6.
• Casey Townsend, who ranked second on the squad in scoring with 11 goals, aims to have another stellar season in 2009. He has three goals in only six games this season.
• Other sophomores looking to make an impact include Alex Lee, who has moved from striker to defense this season, and forward Matt Oduaran, who spent time with the U-20 Nigerian national team this summer.

ANTICIPATED STARTERS

MARYLAND
Forwards
#9 Jason Herrick - Jr.
#11 Casey Townsend - So.

Midfield
#23 Kaoru Forbess - So.
#16 Paul Torres - Fr.
#10 Drew Yates - Sr.
#8 Matt Kassel - So.

Defense
#2 Taylor Kemp - Fr.
#4 Ethan White - Fr.
#15 Kevin Tangney - Sr.
#14 Kwame Darko, Sr. Goalkeeper
#1 Zac MacMath - So.

CLEMSON
Forwards
#5 Austin Savage
#16 Nathan Thornton

Midfield
#8 Riley Sumpter
#9 Tommy Drake
#11 Eric Cava
#17 Connor Barbaree

Defense
#2 David Newton
#3 Greg Eckhardt
#4 Francklin Blaise
#20 Bo Godwin

Goalkeeper
#1 Joseph Bendik

LIGHTS OUT AT LUDWIG
• Maryland scored a total of seven goals as five different Terps found the back of the net in a 7-0 shutout against Duquesne on Sept. 15 at Ludwig Field.
• 24 players saw game action for Maryland as eight different players notched at least a point in the match, led by a hat trick by Casey Townsend and two assists and a goal from Matt Kassel.
• Several firsts were established as well as six players saw their first action as Terrapins, goalkeeper Will Swaim tallied his first career assist and freshmen John Stertzer and Ethan White each registered their first goals in the Red and Black.

SEASON SNAPSHOT
• After establishing the `Gold Standard' in 2008 with an NCAA National Championship, an ACC Tournament title and a school-record 23 wins and 15 shutouts, the Terps have a tall task ahead to repeat the kind of success they achieved just a year ago.
• However, with a core of returners including All-ACC honorees Zac MacMath, Matt Kassel and Casey Townsend, solid leadership from a talented group of upperclassmen, and a promising nationally-ranked recruiting class, there are plenty of reasons to believe the 2009 Terps will reach the College Cup and beyond.
• MacMath returns to goal after a spectacular freshman season where he led the nation in goals against average (0.44). He also tied a Maryland program-record with 12 shutouts and ran off a streak of 19 consecutive wins after losing his collegiate debut to California.
• The biggest question mark for the Terps this season will be the backline. After being depleted by the graduation of three-year starter Rich Costanzo and the departures of All-American Omar Gonzalez, Rodney Wallace and A.J. Delagarza to the MLS, Cirovski will rely heavily on a young, fresh crop of defenders in 2009. The refurbished backline will, however, profit from the experience of Kevin Tangney as an anchor.
• The midfield, along with the forward corps, should be strong units for Maryland in 2009. The Terps return seniors Doug Rodkey and Drew Yates along with sophomores Kassel and Kaoru Forbess, to the midfield.
• Maryland is thrilled to return both of its starters at the forward position as junior Jason Herrick and Townsend are poised for their second season working together up front. The duo combined for 15 goals last season.

THE `09 SLATE
• The Terps welcome 12 teams to Ludwig Field this season, including a four-game homestand to kick off the 2009 campaign.
• In total, the Terps will battle eight NCAA Tournament teams from last season, including three that Maryland defeated in postseason play en route to its second national title in four seasons.
• The schedule is highlighted by an opening weekend two-game homestand with West Coast foes UCLA and California on Sept. 4 and 6, respectively. Maryland faces North Carolina in a rematch of the 2008 national title game on Sept. 25 in front of a live television audience on Fox Soccer Channel. The Terps will take on ACC rivals Wake Forest on the road Oct. 24 before welcoming Virginia on Halloween night in College Park.