In his season-opening comments with the media, Terrapin men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski tried to immediately set a tone while describing his outlook for his team’s first season following last year’s national championship.
“We are the reigning national champions; we are not defending anything,” Cirovski said. “We have become successful because we have a proactive approach, and we concentrate on the present, and we file the past.”
Winning the national championship was a storybook ending for the Terps in 2005. The 1-0 victory against New Mexico was the culmination of a four-year title chase that had left the Terps empty-handed after semifinal losses in the previous three seasons. It was the perfect sendoff for six seniors, including all-time leading scorer Jason Garey.
“The story couldn’t have been written any better,” Cirovski said. “We had played in the other three regions of the country, and we finally won it in our own region in the middle of ACC country. It was a phenomenal feeling, but it doesn’t end there.”
So now, eight months later, and with seven starters from the championship team gone, the championship thrill is only a sweet memory. With the 2006 season, the Terps again have their eyes on the big game in December, but this time if they are to make it, they will have to do it with a rebuilt squad.
The major facelift for the Terps starts right up front at forward, in a spot where the team had much success last year. The Terps were tops in the country with 2.58 goals per game in 2005, but they lost Garey to graduation and rising star Robbie Rogers to the Dutch Premier League.
With no clear-cut goal scorer in the front, the No. 1-ranked Terps struggled offensively in the preseason and did not score a goal in their two exhibition games. But in the opening game of the season, forward Graham Zusi and midfielder Stephen King scored in a 2-0 victory against No. 23 Old Dominion. King also scored in the Terps’ 3-0 victory over Binghamton on Sunday.
King was second on the Terps in goals last year, and Zusi is a young striker who will have to do his best to fill the void Garey and Rogers left open – by no means an easy task – if the Terps are going to be successful on offense.
“I think the goals will come. I think we will be fine,” King said.
On the other side of the ball, the Terps have rebuilt the backline, and, ironically, while Cirovski made it clear that he didn’t like the word “defend” in describing the season, his biggest star and a major piece in the effort to reclaim the championship is the leader of the defense, sophomore goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
Seitz, on a shoulder Cirovski said was only 70 percent last year, played extremely well after he replaced senior goalie Craig Salvati midway through the season.
Even though Seitz was only a freshman, his talent quickly shined, and he immediately showed that he was one of the best goalies in the country.
“He is a special guy,” Cirovski said of his goalkeeper. “He is going to be playing in some World Cups and we are going to be cheering him on – he’s that special. He is very good right now, but he will be great as the season progresses.”
Seitz won the defensive MVP in the College Cup after making several clutch saves in the tournament, including a memorable penalty kick stop in the championship game. He said that this season he expects even better from himself and is confident even with a new backline in front of him.
“I like it – it’s different,” Seitz said. “I mean we don’t have the experiences of the seniors that we had last year to help out … but we have young talented guys that are coming into their own.”
The backline lost three senior starters from last year. This year, A.J. Delagarza and Omar Gonzalez will anchor the line. Delagarza, a sophomore, had a strong NCAA tournament last season, and Gonzalez, a big and tall freshman, looks more like a basketball forward than a soccer player.
Gonzalez is one of several freshmen Cirovski hopes will contribute to the rebuilt team.
“I think this freshman class will be asked to contribute more as a group than maybe the last few years because we have lost so much more,” Cirovski said. “There will be certainly four, five or six of them that will be heavily relied on throughout the season.”
The Terps’ midfield – which includes King, senior A.J. Godbolt and junior Maurice Edu – has the stability and experience that could be needed to glue the very young team together. Although there will be growing pains, as Cirovski said, the expectations are that the Terps will still be among the best in the country.
“We have always come into the season as one of the top teams in the country,” King said. “This year it will be no different.”
Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com.
