The No. 8 Terrapin men’s soccer team began its two-game exhibition slate with a 0-0 tie at VCU in Richmond, Va., on Saturday night.
The highly touted freshman class, ranked No. 1 in the country by CollegeSoccerNews.com, played well. The defense outperformed the offense, as is often the case in early season games, according to coach Sasho Cirovski.
“It was a good early look at a lot of people in a lot of places,” Cirovski said. “It was an average performance. The backers played well, and the attackers struggled, which is to be expected. It’s going to take time for the attack to find the open spaces.”
Freshman Matt Kassel played well in the midfield, and freshman goalkeeper Zac MacMath got the bulk of the playing time in net, registering about 70 minutes, after sophomore Will Swaim sustained a minor injury in warm-ups. Senior Aaron Chinn finished out the game in goal.
“I thought they did quite well,” Cirovski said of the freshmen. “They all got their feet wet, and it’s a very good class, all of them. It’s hard in college soccer for freshmen to come in and make a difference.”
The Terps had 18 shots, but just three on goal. Their best scoring opportunity came in the closing minutes of the game, when junior forward Drew Yates dribbled down the right sideline but had his shot deflected by VCU goalkeeper Andrew Dyskstra.
VCU was picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association’s preseason coaches’ poll. The Terps play their second and final exhibition game Friday night at Ludwig Field against South Florida.
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