The black, white and gold World Cup replica soccer ball looked completely out of the reach of Terrapin men’s soccer midfielder Stephen King.

The ball rolled toward the backline into the perfect area for a Louisville defender to catch up and make an easy clear. If the clear didn’t happen, the defender had an easy chance to settle the ball and tap a short pass to the goalkeeper.

But out of nowhere, King bolted into the picture, slid for the ball and forced the surprised defender to kick the ball past the backline, giving the Terps a corner kick in the 29th minute of Monday’s game.

Although the Terps did not score on the ensuing corner, King’s hustle play was, in its subtleties, special. He showed an inspired jolt, even with a 2-0 lead, just to give his team another scoring opportunity.

It is hustle plays such as that, as well as King’s leadership thus far this season, that are just as important as the number of points he has scored.

“He typifies really what this team is about a little bit,” coach Sasho Cirovski said of King. “He is a player with a lot of talent, but he also has the blue collar to match that talent.”

King’s stat line this past weekend against No. 10 UCLA and unranked Louisville shows the talent: two goals and three assists. It also continued his streak of scoring a goal in each of the four games this season.

The blue-collar label is evident in King’s hustle plays and in the work ethic he shows in every game.

Coming into the season, one of the biggest concerns for the Terps was the lack of experience on the squad. The team only returned four starters from last year’s national championship team. As a junior, King has the responsibility of wearing the captain’s armband when he plays.

The leadership role was made more difficult in the two games during Labor Day weekend when King’s fellow veteran midfielders, senior A.J. Godbolt (illness) and junior Maurice Edu (back spasms), did not play.

But on the field, King did not panic, or even budge. With the young players around him on midfield, he led the Terps to the two victories in the three days – including an impressive 4-1 win on Saturday against national rival UCLA.

After the game, King didn’t lament his injured teammates, nor did he even seem worried.

He instead took the high road.

“We showed how deep we are today,” King said. “Hopefully they can get healthy as soon as possible, but I think we have the guys that, if we have to, they can step up and fill those roles.”

The only knock on the Terps’ performance in the past two games came in the game against Louisville, when in the second half the Terps went from having control of the game to skirting away with a 2-1 victory that included a few tense moments at the end.

It is either coincidence or completely telling that the Terps’ difficulties came in a half where King had only one shot, which was blocked.

But the poor closing in the Louisville game does not overshadow King’s holiday weekend performance.

Because of the numbers King produced in the past two games against the Bruins and Cardinals, College Soccer News awarded him National Player of the Week.

For the season, King remains a candidate on the Hermann Trophy watch list.

But for the Terps, in the past two games and throughout the season, he has meant more than the accolades and the numbers.

He has been the talented blue-collar leader.

“I have just been trying to get involved as much as possible with the scoring and setting guys up,” King said. “Hopefully I can keep that up.”

Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com