Just two days after playing a game that coach Sasho Cirovski called an “embarrassment for all of college soccer,” the Terrapin men’s soccer team will take the field again tonight.

Sunday’s game was as action-packed as a 1-1 tie can be. Junior defender Rich Costanzo allegedly struck an opposing player and received a red card for his actions in a fight toward the end of the game. On top of that, sophomore midfielder Jeremy Hall left the game only to return to the sidelines on crutches, and freshman Will Swaim played for the first time in seven games, entering at halftime for freshman Thorne Holder.

And after playing 110 minutes, getting fouled 26 times and winding up with a tie as a final result, the Terps (6-4-4) have every right to be mentally worn out. Practices were light Monday, and Cirovski had his players performing “handball” drills, involving throwing a soccer ball around until a team can head the ball into the goal in what appeared to be a combination of soccer, basketball and ultimate Frisbee.

“The way the game ended yesterday left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth,” Cirovski said. “We’ve addressed a lot of issues in meetings, and we wanted to come out and put a little smile on their face and try to get re-energize.”

The Terps appeared focused yet loose in practice, not allowing themselves to be weighed down by the events of Sunday afternoon’s game.

Costanzo was not at practice or available for comment. But his teammates are currently focused on the present: the game against Georgetown tonight. The Hoyas (5-9-0) are one of only three teams on the Terps’ schedule that currently has a losing record. George Mason and Clemson, both of whom the Terps defeated earlier this season, are the other two.

Still, with the Terps having played a long, physically and emotionally draining game just two days earlier, tonight’s game will be a test. The replacement of Hall, who will miss the game due to injury, and the suspension of Costanzo will only test the Terps further.

“We’ve played a lot of overtime games, so it’s more of the same of what we’ve been used to all year,” Cirovski said. “It’s just a matter of bouncing back.

“I think we’ll be fine. There’s a lot of players waiting for their opportunity,” Cirovski added. “We’ve had a lot of guys play at different places. We have some good versatility. And we’re going to move some guys around. And we’ll be fine.”

The coach’s optimism was echoed by his players.

Junior defender A.J. Delagarza knows his back row will miss Costanzo, who has been one of the top players for the team. Still, with sophomore defender Kwame Darko, senior midfielder Spencer Allen and freshman defender Sean Flatley all having seen playing time alongside Delagarza, and Rodney Wallace and sophomore Omar Gonzalez on the back row, the Terps trust their depth.

Swaim, who will be starting his first game since Sept. 22, has practiced well lately and Delagarza said his communication skills could help the defense gel without Costanzo.

Senior midfielder Stephen King emphasized that the strength of the Terp program is its depth and said the team should not miss a step. Monday’s light practice helped.

“Everyone’s obviously down after what happened [Sunday], but we just want to put that behind us and move on,” King said. “So having a fun practice today – it was pretty light – is going to help. It’s going to help us focus on [tonight] instead of dwelling on the past, because you can’t really change that.”

n Cal State Northridge coach comments on Sunday’s game

Cal State Northridge coach Terry Davila was no happier with the end result of Sunday’s game than Cirovski.

Davila, who had been given a red card midway through the second half of the game and had been removed before the ensuing fight, was disturbed by the incident on the field.

“Disappointed. Very disappointed,” Davila said in an interview Monday. “We didn’t come there for that. We respect Maryland’s program and we didn’t expect any of that.”

Davila was removed from the game for arguing with the officials after a red card on Matador midfielder Fergie Agwu. He admitted later that the card was warranted and he was not happy with the slide tackle.

Davila said both sides were to blame for the fight near the end of the match, when Costanzo allegedly struck a Cal State Northridge player.

“It takes two teams for something like this to occur,” the ninth-year head coach said.

The Cal State Northridge player has not filed any charges against Costanzo, although he spoke with the University Police about the process, according to University Police spokesman Paul Dillon. Cirovski said he is not yet prepared to talk about the altercation because he has not yet spoken with Costanzo in a one-on-one setting about the issue.

But both coaches echoed the same sentiment: The dirty play was a surprise. Both coaches had emphasized that they expected an aggressive, up-tempo game with exciting soccer rather than soccer excitement.

“We usually don’t have problems with rough play,” Davila said. “Hopefully we’ll learn from it and hopefully the players will learn.”

For Cirovski, watching an exciting game turn into a slugfest that included a fight was a major disappointment.

“What was a hard-fought game … deteriorated into something less than soccer,” Cirovski said after the game.

Tomorrow, the Terps are ready to return to playing soccer.

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