The Terrapin men’s soccer team welcomes an unfamiliar opponent tonight, one it has faced only once in the past 31 years and one that calls a bustling college town nearly 600 miles away home.
But with coach Sasho Cirovski a senior member of the soccer community, there’s seemingly always some sort of link he can find with his opponent.
Michigan State is no different. A variety of connections to the Spartan program make tonight’s game — the Terps’ 2010 season opener — a mini-homecoming of sorts for several players and coaches involved.
“I have a very strong relationship with Michigan State,” Cirovski said. “You see these rivalries, and you think it’s going to be a heck of a game.”
Cirovski himself might never have arrived in College Park, where he has won two national championships and three ACC titles, if it weren’t for Spartan assistant coach Joe Baum, who gave the decorated player from Wisconsin-Milwaukee a chance in the coaching ranks.
While Cirovski has mostly fond memories of the Spartans, forward Casey Townsend has a difference of opinion.
“To tell you the truth, I’ve always been a [University of] Michigan guy,” said Townsend, a Traverse City, Mich., native.
Growing up, Townsend played with many of the players on the Michigan State team. But as one of the top high school soccer players in Michigan state history, the junior opted to leave home to play for the Terps.
Tonight marks Townsend’s first collegiate match against a squad from Michigan, making the game even more enticing.
“We talked all the time about how it’d be great if Maryland played Michigan State, and now it’s actually happening,” Townsend said.
The connections don’t stop there. Cirovski’s older brother, Vancho, played for Michigan State from 1979-81, tallying the third-most career assists in program history. Daune Rensing (formerly Koester), wife of current Spartan coach Damon Rensing, played volleyball for the Terps from 1994-96.
And though both Townsend and Cirovski said they will carry their personal connections into the game against the Spartans, they’ll have to remain focused on grabbing a quality early-season win. Cirovski routinely schedules top-flight opponents to open his schedule, and Michigan State fits the bill.
The No. 24 Spartans are expected to compete for a Big Ten championship and tout one of the nation’s best goalkeepers in Avery Steinlage, who set an NCAA record for consecutive shutout minutes last season.
“It’s a veteran group,” Cirovski said. “They really don’t have a weak player on the field.”
And while the stakes are high, Cirvoski and Townsend will welcome a familiar green and white tonight, even if it might not resonate with the rest of the Terps.
“It’s going to be a strange feeling being on the other side of the ball,” Townsend said. “If we lose, I’ll probably never hear the end of it.”
ceckard@umdbk.com
