Stephen King was a productive Terrapin men’s soccer midfielder a season ago, starting in all 25 games as a freshman and netting seven goals. And after his full year of experience, King is now expected to be more of a factor offensively.

“[Coach Sasho Cirovski] told me before the season started that he wanted me to be more of an attacking threat, so I’m trying to do my best to do that, and it’s worked well,” King said.

To say it has worked well is quite the understatement.

King ran off a trifecta of goals in a nine-minute span against California State Fullerton Friday, and added a fourth tally in the second half of the Terps’ 7-0 rout. To contrast, King’s seven goals last season came in during 2,000 minutes of game time.

“He’s a slicing and dicing kind of player and puts himself in good positions,” Cirovski said. “We know he’s not going to score a goal every game, but we want him to be a threat either through his running or passing.”

As the No. 12-ranked Terps enter tonight’s home opener against No. 5 Santa Clara in the Maryland/Adidas Classic, they’ll need King and his attacking teammates to be much more effective than they were last Sunday in a humbling 4-0 loss to UCLA.

In that game, the Terps (1-1) did not even register a shot on goal and only had seven attempts total while playing with a sluggish and uninspired demeanor.

It won’t get much easier facing the Broncos, who beat UCLA 3-2 in another game played at Fullerton Friday. Santa Clara (2-0), however, did enjoy a man advantage for the majority of the game.

“We’re going to try to utilize our players better,” sophomore midfielder Robbie C’deBaca said. “It’s a good test for us to see where we stand as a team.”

One possible boost for the Terps this weekend may come in the form of freshman midfielder Robbie Rogers, who is awaiting medical clearance on whether his knee is strong enough for game competition.

Rogers underwent arthroscopic surgery about two months ago but practiced with the team this week. His return could also benefit King’s strengths and give the Terps a youthful and potent midfield.

“[Rogers] is going to be a very special player for us,” Cirovski said. “When he gets fit, he’s going to add a lot to us.”

Even if Rogers is available, Cirovski said yesterday he is unsure how much playing time the freshman would receive.

The Terps also host No. 15 Virginia Commonwealth Sunday night in the same tournament.

“We’re going to go out there and put a lot of pressure on Santa Clara and VCU and hopefully, things will go better,” King said.

Contact reporter Daniel Chiat at chiatdbk@gmail.com.