Strack's Take: A B1G Weekend in College Park
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Nine wins in a row. That's what the Terps have achieved of late as they climbed the Big Ten standings, claimed the conference, took care of Rutgers in the quarterfinal, and now host a Michigan State team who beat them in September.
Head coach Sasho Cirovski and many of his players recognize the team's immense growth through the course of the year, but Friday's tournament semifinal will be a chance to prove it as they play a team that fueled the frustration of a 1-3-2 start to the season.
“This was one of our goals to try to be in a position to play at home in the semifinals and we've accomplished that,” said Cirovski. “Now we have an opportunity to play a great Michigan State team again and see how far we've come since the beginning of the year.”
Perhaps the bitterness of the Sept. 19 matchup stemmed from the way it happened. The Terps surrendered a goal in the ninth minute and allowed just one more shot the rest of the way. A cross by Jereme Raley in the final minute found the head of Mikey Ambrose, but Spartans defender Zach Carroll cleared the ball along the goal line with a header of his own to save a 1-0 victory.
“That game, we feel like we totally dominated,” said sophomore defender Chris Odoi-Atsem. “Defensively, the whole game we played well. We were playing in their half the whole second half so we dominated that game pretty much.”
The center back, who received first team All-Big Ten accolades Wednesday, said teammate Alex Crognale slipped on the play, which was the difference. Maryland outshot Michigan State 8-2 in the contest, but don't think crunching the numbers will get you anywhere.
“Statistics don't matter in that game,” said Cirovski. “We got off to a terrible start, they scored a great goal and then the statistics get skewed because they're defending a 1-0 lead. Bottom line is…we've changed quite a bit since that game, we're a much better team and I think you'll see a much better Maryland performance [Friday].”
Not only has the morale and confidence transformed in the last two months, but so has the lineup. Senior defender Raley, a solid right back for the squad, was starting as a forward on that much-warmer Friday night. Since then, fellow senior and another first team All-Big Ten selection Alex Shinsky has returned to the front line, scoring two goals and four assists in 12 starts.
Tsubasa Endoh and Mikias Eticha, who were also battling some injuries in the early going, have shaken off the rust and are playing some of their best soccer right now.
Michigan State's senior forward Adam Montague, who did not play in the last rendez-vous at Ludwig, is also back, and is one of five Spartans scorers with four goals. The new foe has also proved themselves as a lethal road team, edging the Terps, Indiana and Penn State twice away from home.
“This is a national championship contender and it's great for us to have an opportunity to play a great team in a conference tournament like this because only good things can come out of this game,” said the 22-year Maryland coach.
The 3:40 p.m. matinee will follow the other semifinal between Ohio State and Indiana. The weekday afternoon start time is unique but should not spoil the Ludwig spirit one bit, according to Cirovski.
“This is Maryland, we have the Crew, we have great fans and I expect them to find ways to get here,” he said. “Hopefully we can send another strong message around the country. Just like the Crew say, “Everywhere we follow,” so I think any time they'll follow too.
Ben Strack, a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland, is a contributing writer to umterps.com.
