Terps Open Big Ten Slate at Northwestern

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland men's soccer team opens Big Ten play with a trip to Northwestern to face the Wildcats on Friday night. The game will be kickoff at 8 p.m., and be streamed on BTN Plus via BTN2Go.

Storylines

The Terps nabbed their first win of the season Monday night with a 1-0 defeat of West Virginia. Senior Amar Sejdic bagged the Terps first goal of the season in the second half off a cross from senior Chase Gasper.
Maryland is 2-2-0 against Northwestern all-time. The Terps routed the Wildcats 3-0 on goals from Sebastian Elney, Amar Sejdic and Jake Rozhansky.
The Terrapins two other results were draws with top-10 opponents. The Terps earned scoreless decisions with then-No. 10 Stanford and then-No. 7 Virginia. Maryland held the shot advantage in both of those contests. The Terps renewed their rivalry with Virginia at DC United's Audi Field, as the matchup was the first college soccer match played at the brand new venue.
Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski begins his 26th season in charge of the Terps, and is one of just nine coaches at the Division I level to notch 400 wins. Cirovski has captured two national championships (2005, 2008) and has won 15 combined conference titles.
Second-team All-Big Ten center back Donovan Pines has led Maryland's back line so far this season. Pines was an honorable mention selection to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week on Sept. 3 after anchoring Maryland's sterling defensive efforts against Virginia and Stanford. Pines pairs with German junior Johannes Bergmann while senior captain Chase Gasper, who transferred from UCLA prior to the 2017 season, features at left back. Maryland went unbeaten when those three played in the backline last season.
Maryland's back four is backed up by standout redshirt junior goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. A Canadian Youth International, St. Clair was sensational in his first season as the fulltime starter in 2017 and was named one of the top-10 keepers in the country by Top Drawer Soccer heading into 2018. He ranks 17th in save percentage (.864) and ninth in shutouts (3).
Senior Andrew Samuels has flourished in the defensive midfield role throughout his career, as has played the six in the first five games. Senior captain Amar Sejdic, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2016, has started the opening five games and has Maryland's only goal this season. Junior Eli Crognale, brother of former Maryland All-American and current Columbus Crew center back Alex Crognale, has slotted in the last four games in the Starting XI.
Senior Sebastian Elney leads a talented Maryland attacking force. A former US Youth National teamer, Elney has started the first three games in the attack with wingers Paul Bin and DJ Reeves. Maryland has gotten attacking contributions from freshmen Justin Gielen and Vinicius Lansade. Gielen made his first career start against UCLA and he leads the team with seven shots on the season.

Terps on TV

Maryland will have at least seven contests broadcast on national television, including five on the Big Ten Network. Maryland's first nationally televised contest of the fall made history as the Terps took on defending national champions Stanford live on FS1. The match was be the first Big Ten Olympic sport broadcast on FS1.
The Terps are featured five more times on BTN throughout the fall, including a marquee non-conference match-up with UCLA (Sept. 7, 7 p.m.) and Big Ten contests vs. Wisconsin (Sept. 21, 7 p.m.), vs. Michigan State (Oct. 5, 7 p.m.), vs. Penn State (Oct. 23, 6 p.m.) and at Michigan (Oct. 28, 4 p.m.). Maryland's seven national broadcasts lead all men's soccer programs in the conference.
All other home matches at Ludwig Field will be streamed live on BTN2Go.

Big Ten Preseason Honors

Senior midfielder Amar Sejdic, redshirt junior goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and junior defender Donovan Pines were named to the Big Ten Preseason honors list.
Sejdic, a 2016 first-team All-Big Ten selection, is Maryland's top returning assist man with four. Pines was a second-team All-Big Ten selection a season ago after being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in his debut campaign.

Meet The New Guys!

Top Drawer Soccer named Maryland's incoming recruiting class the 12th best in the nation, continuing the program's legacy of top rated classes. Frisco native Brayan Padilla (FC Dallas), the 58th ranked player in TDS' rankings headlines the class with fellow ranked recruit Russell Shealy (102, Atlanta United) and MLS academy product Vinicius Lansade. All three have had success in the US Soccer Development Academy, with Lansade leading NYCFC to a U-19/18 title this year.
Four Maryland natives feature in Maryland's class; Justin Gielen (Baltimore Celtic), Nick Richardson (Baltimore Celtic), Brett St. Martin (Baltimore Celtic) and Craig Eichelberger (Baltimore Armour). The trio from Celtic are proven winners, with St. Martin helping the club win a US Youth Soccer U-19 National Championship prior to Richardson and Gielen leading the outfit to a U-18 crown.
Maryland's class is completed by a pair of international players; Slovakia native Richard Bedats and France native William James Herve. Bedats has a distinguished youth pedigree, captaining Slovakian youth sides from the U-15 to U-19 level. He chose the Terps over a number of national bluebloods including North Carolina, Indiana and Wake Forest.

Captains

Dayne St. Clair, Amar Sejdic and Chase Gasper are the captains of this year's squad. St. Clair and Sejdic are first-time captains while Gasper was named a captain midway through the 2017 season after transferring to Maryland from UCLA.

-Terps-

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Players Mentioned

#12 Jake Rozhansky: MF; 5' 9"; Senior

#5 Johannes Bergmann: D; 6' 1"; Junior

#18 Paul Bin: F/MF; 5' 10"; Junior

#20 Eli Crognale: MF; 6' 0"; Junior

#9 Sebastian Elney: F; 6' 1"; Senior

#28 Chase Gasper: D; 6' 0"; Senior

#2 Donovan Pines: D; 6' 5"; Junior

#11 DJ Reeves: F/MF; 6' 0"; Senior

#13 Andrew Samuels: MF/D; 5' 9"; Senior

#10 Amar Sejdic: MF; 5' 10"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#12 Jake Rozhansky
: 5' 9"; Senior
: MF

#5 Johannes Bergmann
: 6' 1"; Junior
: D

#18 Paul Bin
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F/MF

#20 Eli Crognale
: 6' 0"; Junior
: MF

#9 Sebastian Elney
: 6' 1"; Senior
: F

#28 Chase Gasper
: 6' 0"; Senior
: D

#2 Donovan Pines
: 6' 5"; Junior
: D

#11 DJ Reeves
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F/MF

#13 Andrew Samuels
: 5' 9"; Senior
: MF/D

#10 Amar Sejdic
: 5' 10"; Senior
: MF