The Maryland men’s soccer team has dominated possession against inferior opponents in the first half of its past two games.

Both times, however, the Terps entered halftime tied at zero.

Coach Sasho Cirovski was mostly content with his team’s play Tuesday against Rutgers. He said Maryland was one pass away from getting on the scoresheet.

Sunday at Penn State, however, Cirovski lamented his team’s lack of aggression early on. While he’s not yet overly concerned about the slow starts, he hopes the team’s attack becomes more consistent.

“We were content to just possess and not really score [in the first half],” Cirovski said. “Second half, we really wanted to be a little more direct.”

In both games, No. 3 Maryland’s attack came to life after intermission, using forward Gordon Wild’s 52nd-minute score to take a 1-0 lead over Rutgers and forward Sebastian Elney’s 50th-minute goal to get on the board against the Nittany Lions.

Both goals came in front of the net, an example of the attack-minded positioning Cirovski wants to see. He said Elney’s score was the result of a run the team wasn’t making in the first half.

“[We wanted to] make sure that we connect the final pass and the final run and cross that would result in a goal, and that’s what we did,” Cirovski said. “We got off to a really good start [in the second half], we just need to start games like that.”

Cirovski added that most teams’ tactics of pressuring for the majority of games in hopes of beating a ranked foe isn’t always effective for 90 minutes.

“Over time you can wear a team out,” Cirovski said. “That’s just the ebb and flow [of the game] the majority of goals in soccer are in the second half.”

Because of those defenses, Cirovski said the Terps’ first-half lulls are normal, but they’re not designed, either.

Cirovski and midfielder Eryk Williamson agreed the Terps have had a passive mentality early in games that should be adjusted going forward.

The veteran coach said his squad has many players who like to get into a rhythm, rather than begin at full intensity.

“It’s just a mental thing,” Williamson said. “We have to stay focused the first 15-20 minutes and make sure we match the intensity of other teams.”

Still, with the Terps dictating play throughout and finding their offense in the second half, Cirovski doesn’t view the lack of scoring as a serious threat to his team.

“Certainly as a coach you’d like to be able to get on the board in the first half, but it’s fine,” Cirovski said. “It’s nothing major at this point.”