COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Terps are in a hole.
Heading into their 11th contest of the season, they have not yet consistently found the net. Midway through the schedule, Maryland's five losses account for more than they suffered all of last season. And yet as Sasho Cirovski walked out of his car toward the Varsity Team House before a film session Tuesday afternoon, his smile couldn't be ignored.
“Beautiful day, right?” he asked reporters, before a question could be posed. “Ready for tomorrow?”
He looked down, then back up into the eyes of the young journalists. Then, with the gentlest severity, Cirovski's joyful smirk took a break and the Maryland head coach unleashed a simple declaration.
“You know that saying, 'those things that don't kill you only make you stronger,' right? Well, that's where we are, and you're going to see our best soccer starting tomorrow.”
Among the things making the Terps especially durable was Sunday's loss to Northwestern. After surrendering two goals in the first three minutes of the match, the Terps (3-5-2) tied the game with an 86th-minute equalizer by freshman Jeroen Meefout. But the Wildcats would silence the comeback try, tallying a goal one minute into overtime.
“I think after the Northwestern game, it has really hit us that we need to step up and really do every small thing to the best of our ability starting tomorrow,” said Terps goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
The unranked Wednesday night showdown with VCU at Ludwig Field may not look too intriguing to soccer fans outside of College Park. But Cirovski views his team and their opponent as top-20 squads who are hungry for a result.
VCU (4-6-1) – having been battle-tested so far this year – is coming off of a 3-0 win over No. 20 George Mason on Saturday. Six of the Rams' 11 games have been against ranked foes, including an overtime victory over then-No. 6 Georgetown and a disappointing double-overtime loss against the top-ranked Fighting Irish last week.
Last season, VCU handed the Terps one of just four losses, rallying from two goals down to edge the eventual national runner-up, 3-2. But unlike Maryland's spirited rematch with Georgetown from a year ago that rubbed salt in an existing wound, the mid-week matchup serves as a reminder to get back on track.
“That game made us better as the year progressed,” said Cirovski, referring to last year's loss. “We're playing them obviously at a different time this year and this is a game that we need to catapult us back into a good frame of mind.”
Outshooting opponents 121-77 has not translated into wins for the Terps and Steffen said it is an issue of finishing. The sophomore net protector said his teammates need to stray away from the pretty goals and go after those of the “grind-it-out” variety.
The shot differential also points to the Terps' superior passing and technical skills, according to Meefout, who feels the difference lies in toughness.
“Some teams in the Big Ten are maybe more physical than the guys we're used to,” he said, “and if we make sure we're at the same level as that, we will win because we're better soccer players. I mean, I'm convinced we're better soccer players,” he clarified with a grin.
The fresh-faced forward, who has two goals on the year, stressed the importance of moving forward from Sunday's match, humbly touting the tenacity that has radiated from the Maryland soccer program for the last decade.
“It was really disappointing and hard but even after five minutes we realized that we have to have focus on VCU and the rest of the season because our season's not over,” said Meefout. “I'm still confident that we can win the Big Ten tournament and even be national champions.”
Ben Strack, a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
