Sept. 30, 2009

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After an uncharacteristic performance at George Mason on Tuesday night, the No. 2 Maryland men's soccer team will look to rebound at Duke on Friday night. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium.

Maryland (5-2-1, 2-0-1 ACC) heads to Duke after suffering its first midweek loss since 2007 on Tuesday at George Mason. The Terps surrendered their first first-half goal of the year when Victor Freeman found the back of the net in the 20th minute.

Maryland defender Kevin Tangney picked up Soccer America National Player of the Week honors along with being named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Tuesday. The fifth-year senior captain netted the game-winner in the Terps' win against then-No. 2 North Carolina to put Maryland atop of the ACC standings.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS...
• No. 14 Duke enters Friday's match with a 6-2 record after defeating Elon, 2-1, on Tuesday night at home.
• The Blue Devils narrowly missed picking up their fourth shutout of the year by giving up a goal with three seconds remaining. Ryan Ruffing and Ryan Finley both scored for Duke.
• Finley and Cole Grossman lead the Blue Devil attack with four goals apiece. James Belshaw sees the most action in goal with 21 saves and a 4-2 record with two shutouts. The Blue Devil defense has surrendered a mere seven goals in eight games this season.
• The Terps lead the all-time series, 41-21-3, including a 1-0 win last September. Duke exited the NCAA Tournament in the first round last season after falling to UNC Greensboro. The Blue Devils return seven starters and 20 letterwinners from that squad.
• Maryland and Duke are knotted at 5-5 in the last ten meetings.

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 600-300-78 record overall and 165-117-22 in conference play.

LAST TIME OUT...
• The No. 2 Maryland men's soccer team ran into a gritty George Mason team Tuesday night and fell 2-0 on the road at a packed George Mason Stadium.
• Victor Freeman scored in the 20th minute while Draymond Washington provided the insurance goal at 46:07. The goal by Freeman was the only score Maryland has surrendered in the first half this season.
• The Terps out-shot George Mason, 15-10, including a decisive 10-3 advantage in the second half.

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 241-104-21 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.

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 appears to be tough once again in 2009 with six teams ranked in the most recent NSCAA/adidas poll and three teams in the top five.

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

RELOADED
• Despite losing all four starters from the defense in 2008, Maryland has reloaded in the back and is having another tremednous season with four shutouts in only eight games.
• Freshmen standouts Taylor Kemp and Ethan White are joined by sophomore Alex Lee and fifth-year senior captain Kevin Tangney in a new back line that has not batted an eye this season. Lee, like Kemp, is a former forward who made the transition to defense during the spring. 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 respecitve 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 has been 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 Friday.
• 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). He will face the only team that's been able to beat him at Maryland when the Terps battle California on Sunday, Sept. 6.
• Matt Kassel will look to improve in the midfield and joins now-healthy classmate Kaoru Forbess.
• Casey Townsend, who ranked second on the squad in scoring with 11 goals, aims to have another stellar season in 2009.
• 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.
#5 Doug Rodkey - S.r
#10 Drew Yates - Sr.
#8 Matt Kassel - So.

Defense
#2 Taylor Kemp - Fr.
#4 Ethan White - Fr.
#15 Kevin Tagney - Sr.
#18 Alex Lee - So.

Goalkeeper
#1 Zac MacMath - So.

DUKE
Forwards
#4 Ryan Ruffing
#9 Ryan Finley

Midfield
#3 Daniel Tweed-Kent
#7 Ryan McDaniel
#15 Cole Grossman
#19 Christop Tweed-Kent

Defense
#5 Matthew Thomas
#6 Christian Ibeagha
#8 Nick Sih
#10 Andrew Wenger

Goalkeeper
# 00 James Belshaw

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.