Prior to the start of the men’s soccer season, Terrapin head coach Sasho Cirovski said there were going to be growing pains for his team.
Cirovski warned that although he thought the team was going to be great again, there would be a learning curve. He said patience would be needed until the potential of the young team turns into actual results.
And on Sunday, it looked as if the Terps were going to prove Cirovski right. In the first half of their home opener, the Terps were out-of-key on offense against unranked Binghamton.
The No. 1-ranked Terps did not score a goal or even garner many opportunities in the opening half – even after the Bearcats lost a man due to a red card.
“I feel like when they got the red card their effort even increased and ours sort of decreased,” Cirovski said.
But then, at halftime, something changed.
The young and talented team went into the locker in a scoreless tie and came back to the field prepared to show exactly why they were picked as one of the favorites to go back to the College Cup.
“We had to remind them at halftime what it means to be a Maryland soccer player and how we want to play,” Cirovski said. “I thought in the second half you saw a different team, you saw a team that grew up a little bit.”
In the second half, the Terps added to their consistent defensive play and scored three goals. Junior midfielder Stephen King scored once and two newcomers, sophomore transfer Rich Costanzo and freshman Jason Herrick, each gave the crowd something to cheer about.
Along with the goal scorers, senior midfielder A.J. Godbolt, who led the Terps in assists last year, showed that even without his primary target of former Terp Jason Garey, he can still find the feet and heads of his teammates, as he notched two assists in the game.
“We picked it up in the second half,” Godbolt said. “I think we really turned it on – and that is quintessential Maryland soccer in the second half.”
It was a half that made the Terps appear to be immune to Cirovski’s growing pains; although it was just one half against an unranked team, the Terps took the opportunity to show their upside.
“We have been working hard at practice, getting each other’s chemistry down,” King said. “We have been getting better every day; hopefully, we just keep getting better as the season goes on.”
The chemistry has developed slowly this season because of the young players who are being used in the front line.
On Sunday, Cirovski used a lot of substitutions to try and find the right mix of players who will become the consistent playmakers up front.
“In the first half it was because of poor performances,” he said when asked why he used so many subs. “In the second half it was because of excellent performances.”
Cirovski said he is confident the right playmakers will emerge and even gave a hint that after the second half adjustments, the Terps are already picking up their game.
“There is a little learning curve,” Cirovski said. “In fact, I think some of the freshmen are ahead of the curve because they have been thrust into situations right away.”
Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com.
