CARSON, Calif. – It was painful to watch Terrapin soccer coach Sasho Cirovski address the media after another crushing one-goal defeat in the College Cup semifinals.
Cirovski – a man with tremendous pride in the program he’s established as a perennial national power – tried to find the words to explain his emotions.
“It’s just pure emptiness,” he said. “It’s just pure emptiness. The finality of it. You just have to collect yourself.”
For the third consecutive season, Cirovski and his Terps collected themselves after falling one step short of a coveted national title game.
In 2002, it was a questionable hand ball call that set up UCLA’s game-winning penalty kick. Last season, another penalty kick score beat the Terps as goalkeeper Noah Palmer was whistled for a foul just inside the 18-yard box, setting up St. John’s lone goal.
The Terps found a way to lose Friday night in an even more excruciating fashion. Indiana senior Danny O’Rourke sent a cross to the right post with less than a minute remaining in the second overtime period, and a streaking John Michael Hayden laid out to head the ball past Palmer, bouncing the Terps from their third consecutive College Cup.
In the postgame press conference, team members followed tough loss protocol. They praised the national champion Hoosiers’ grit in the closing minutes. They modestly recapped the season, speaking of another banner year for the Terps’ program that included 17 wins and trips to the ACC championship and College Cup.
But perhaps most importantly, the Terps spoke of next season.
“We’ve [made it to the College Cup] three years in a row,” said junior forward Jason Garey, whose selection as a third-team All-American this season was just laughable. Garey was the top scorer on one of the four best teams in the country, and he is a third-teamer? Please.
“I think that should be focused on more than anything,” he said. “We are going to win one. We just have to find a way to win the big game.”
But next season the Terps may have a tougher road back to the College Cup. The loss of seniors Palmer, Abe Thompson, Domenic Mediate and Ian Rodway – cornerstones of Cirovski’s program – leave a young crop of talent to fill the void.
Then again, the Terps weren’t expected to get there this season, losing Clarence Goodson, Sumed Ibrahim, Scott Buete and Seth Stammler. All four now play professionally in the Major League Soccer.
The Terps had their problems throughout the year. A four-game winless streak – the first for the program since 1993 – dropped the team out of the top 25.
“We had a little bit of a lapse on a four-game skid,” junior defender Kenney Bertz said. “At that point, I think a lot of people questioned where our program was at.”
And now there will probably be more questions as to whether the Terps – one of the most successful programs in college soccer over the past three seasons – can find a
way to win that big one. I overheard one reporter proclaim the Terps are now the Buffalo Bills of college soccer, which may be a little unfair.
The Terps were just unlucky in 2002 and 2003, losing largely because of a couple of questionable calls. But this year, Indiana simply outmatched the Terps.
After taking a lead into halftime, the Terps’ offense disappeared in the second half. Indiana put in two goals and had several other dangerous chances before the Terps’ Maurice Edu netted just his second goal of the season. After the halftime the Terps were outshot 17-3, making Hayden’s game-winning goal seem almost inevitable.
But as bitter as it may be to lose in the final minute of overtime, Cirovski and the Terps must like what they’ve built.
The program is now a national championship contender every year and has piqued the interest of a student body that previously held a deaf ear to anything other than football and basketball.
The Terps have accomplished so much in the past three seasons, which is why another fall in the College Cup is so tough to swallow.
“When you set high goals and you want to climb the highest mountain,” Cirovski said, “you set yourself up for hard falls.
