Forward Patrick Mullins raises the ACC championship trophy for the second year in a row after the Terps defeated Virginia, 1-0, on Nov. 17, 2013 at Maryland SoccerPlex.
This weekend, the Terrapins men’s soccer team emerged as ACC champions, defeating Clemson and Virginia on the way to its second straight conference tournament title.
But coach Sasho Cirovski was a bit disappointed after the NCAA selection show yesterday afternoon, as the committee handed the Terps the No. 5 seed for the national tournament.
Though Cirovski expected to be recognized as one of the top four teams in the country yesterday, the 21st-year coach is now looking forward to what he hopes will be another three weeks of grueling yet successful competition on the road to the College Cup, which will be held at PPL Park in Philadelphia on Dec. 13 and 15.
“Typically when you win the ACC tournament, you’ve done enough to secure that, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” Cirovski said. “At the end of the day, it’s not a big deal. It’s out of our control.”
The Terps did earn a first-round bye with their No. 5 seed — as did the top 16 teams in the tournament — meaning they avoid playing a match on Thursday. Instead, they earned a couple days of rest and will face the winner of Providence and Penn on Sunday at Ludwig Field. No. 12-seed UC Irvine, No. 13-seed Charlotte and No. 4-seed California are the other three teams who have first-round byes in the Terps’ quarter of the bracket.
The extra time to recuperate will prove crucial for the Terps, who endured physical play and the loss of forward Schillo Tshuma to a hamstring injury at the ACC tournament in Germantown. Cirovski said Tshuma will be ready for his squad’s second-round game, though.
“If you make it to the ACC finals, normally you’ll get a bye,” Cirovski said. “It is very much needed because of the toll it takes on the body and the mind. Thankfully, we’re used to this routine, and we’ll make sure the guys are ready to go by Sunday. But there’ll have to be a good balance of recovery and preparation.”
Five other ACC teams will accompany the Terps in the 48-team field, including No. 14-seed Wake Forest, No. 8-seed Virginia, No. 3-seed Notre Dame, North Carolina and Clemson. Notre Dame, which fell to Virginia in the ACC semifinals Friday, is the conference’s highest-ranked team. Duke and N.C. State were considered bubble teams, but both failed to make the cut for the tournament.
“It’s a great league,” Cirovski said. “We’re thankful we got six, but there are some really good teams that I probably wouldn’t want to play. It was a heck of a league, which makes winning the ACC regular and tournament even more sweet.”
Last season, the Terps received the No. 2 seed and didn’t face another top five-seeded team until their semifinal match against then-No. 3-seed Georgetown. This season, the Terps may have to overcome the No. 4-seed Golden Bears in the quarterfinals to advance to the College Cup.
California defeated the Terps in Berkley, Calif., on Sept. 1 in an overtime thriller, but Cirovski said he isn’t thinking about the potential rematch. His team has suffered surprising defeats this season thanks to overlooking opponents, namely in a 3-2 loss to Virginia Commonwealth, which also qualified for the national tournament, on Sept. 8 at Ludwig.
Cirovski feels they can’t afford to be looking past their next game.
“That’s our mantra,” Cirovski said. “We’re singularly focused on preparing ourselves mentally and physically for our game Sunday against the winner of Penn and Providence.”
