Maryland Terapins soccer coach Sasho Cirovski.
The Big Ten suspended Terrapins men’s soccer head coach Sasho Cirovski for last night’s 1-0 win over VCU at Ludwig Field and fined this university $10,000 after Cirovski had to be restrained from approaching the officials following the Terps’ overtime loss at Northwestern on Sunday.
“I sincerely regret my actions towards the officials following our match at Northwestern on Sunday,” Cirovski said in a statement. “I would like to personally apologize to the Big Ten Conference and vow that this will not happen again.”
The Terps fell to the Wildcats, 3-2, in the 92nd minute when Northwestern forward Joey Calistri assisted on midfielder Cole Missimo’s game-winning goal. Calistri appeared to shove Terps defender Chris Odoi-Atsem and almost stepped out of bounds on the play.
Cirovski, whose suspension lasted one match, will incur the total cost of the fine. Assistant coach Brian Rowland handled coaching duties as the Terps beat VCU yesterday night behind midfielder Mael Corboz’s penalty-kick goal.
Rowland said he was made aware Tuesday night that he’d handle Cirovski’s responsibilities against VCU.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” Rowland said. “I know the system and style of play and a lot of the things that we want to do.”
The last time Cirovski missed a match came when he was kept out of the 2003 season opener after receiving a red card in the Terps’ 2-1 national semifinal loss to UCLA in 2002.
“[Cirovski] is a big presence in the locker room,” Corboz said. “But we knew what he had to do [Wednesday], and fortunately, we got the result.”
