Soon after the Maryland men’s soccer team hired Sasho Cirovski as its coach in 1993, the Terps became one of the top programs in the country and have been perennial national championship contenders since.
For years now, Cirovski has noticed Maryland has gotten its foe’s best effort each game regardless of how the Terps are faring at that time. So while Maryland is ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time since 2012, the Terps’ mindset hasn’t changed.
Maryland knows it’ll continue to receive tough fights from each of its opponents and is more focused on holding the top ranking at the end of the season. When the Terps (5-0-2, 2-0-1 Big Ten) host No. 22 Michigan State (5-1, 2-0) at Ludwig Field on Friday night, Maryland will look to maintain its ranking without feeling the added pressure of being No. 1.
“We’ve been the top program of the 21st century,” Cirovski said. “We get a lot of teams’ A-effort because of the respect people have for our program. We’ve been able to understand how to play as a favorite, as a big bull’s-eye. We’re used to being a team that embraces the high ranking, and we’re ready for it.”
Cirovski said this is one of the best squads he’s coached in his 23 years with the Terps. He preached before the season that his team’s goal is to play its best soccer at the end of the year.
Goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier is the lone player on this year’s squad who was also on the 2012 team that was ranked No. 1, though he redshirted that season. The Terps began this year ranked No. 4 and expected to be ranked highly throughout the season, so this hasn’t come as a surprise to the players.
“We know we deserve to be a top ranked team in the country,” midfielder Amar Sejdic said. “We trust each other and the squad as a unit. With all the talent we have on the team, there’s a very valid reason we’re one of the top teams in the country.”
The Terps lost in the NCAA Tournament semifinals the last time they held the No. 1 ranking. Maryland began 2013 ranked No. 2, but slow starts the past three years have prevented the Terps from sitting on top of the national rankings.
Maryland went a combined 10-8-8 in August and September the past three seasons, but while Cirovski said the Terps aren’t yet playing their best soccer, they remain undefeated and rank first in the Big Ten standings. Maryland, with its eight returning starters, leads the Big Ten with 53 points and is tied for third in the country.
Still, the Terps haven’t dominated every match. Three of their five wins have come off a game-winning goal, including two overtime victories last week. In their 1-1 draw with No. 4 Indiana on Sept. 9, the Hoosiers controlled possession until Maryland scored the equalizer in the 87th minute.
“Being No. 1 is a nice honor, but obviously we still have a ton of work to do,” defender Alex Crognale said. “We want to be No. 1 in the country come December, not Sept. 22.”
Crognale said Cirovski, who’s faced situations like this, has not spoken about the No. 1 ranking much. Instead he’s put into perspective how the team plays in the College Cup in November and December is more important than how it plays now.
So the Terps will approach Friday as just another game.
“He doesn’t want it to kind of fill up our heads,” Sejdic said. “He wants us to stay disciplined, stay humble and play to the best of our ability. At the end of the season, we want to be the last team standing. This is a good turning point for us to start leaving that impression on other teams.”
