Pace
Jake Pace thought his time in College Park was over. After the forward’s Terrapins men’s soccer playing career ended with a 2-1 loss to Notre Dame in the 2013 College Cup final, he decided he would attend graduate school.
Pace requested advice from coach Sasho Cirovski, who frequently counsels players on life after college. But Cirovski offered Pace a position as the team’s director of operations. Flattered, Pace returned to the campus where he had spent four seasons.
So when the Terps host Virginia Commonwealth tonight in a rematch of last year’s 3-2 loss, Pace will be on the sideline as Cirovski’s team hopes to halt a two-match losing streak.
“I led a decent amount of these guys on the field and off the field,” Pace said. “Now I’m stepping into a role where I’m kind of behind the scenes, doing a lot of the logistics for the team.”
Pace’s day-to-day responsibilities this season differ from the tasks he took on as a player. Rather than worrying about pesky defenders and hostile ACC crowds, Pace focuses his energy on organizing the team’s travel schedule, meals and other details.
But last season, Pace provided a scoring threat for an offense replete with explosive options. And while he typically came off the bench, Pace tied for second on the team with six goals.
His first score of his redshirt senior season season came against VCU on Sept. 8, 2013. In the 33rd minute, he knocked in a header from 6 yards out to give his team a 1-0 lead, but the Terps eventually blew a three-goal lead in the final 14 minutes.
“That’s not a good memory of mine,” Pace said. “A decent amount of these boys played in that game and were watching it, and know what they can do.”
Pace won’t have an opportunity for redemption on the field tonight, and he’s still adapting to his role off the pitch.
“A lot of the stuff that I do is the stuff that I took for granted when I was a player,” Pace said. “I kind of just showed up and food was out in front of me, and I just walked into the hotel.”
Pace said the transition has also affected his social life. Now, when the Terps players hang out after practice, Pace goes home.
But Cirovski said Pace’s transition has been seamless, in part because of the way he conducted himself as a player.
“We try to use all of our successful alumni as examples, but Jake’s an easy one to point to because he always put 100 percent of effort into everything,” Cirovski said.
Pace initially didn’t plan to return to this university, however, as he was deciding between two opportunities. He was either going to take a teaching job at a public school or become a graduate assistant at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
But Pace couldn’t turn down the offer from his former coach.
Pace said Cirovski acts as a mentor for former players, and he often sets them up with jobs. But Cirovski also makes sure his active players have their minds set toward the future.
Before the Terps’ 3-2 loss at Northwestern on Sunday, Cirovski arranged for the team to eat with former Terps, all of whom reside in Chicago and have achieved professional success.
“They were all relating their success back to Maryland soccer,” Pace said, “and how important just playing and going with your teammates through these times sets you up for the future. They all had different stories that related to how [Cirovski] has helped them to this point.”
In tonight’s game against the Rams (4-6-1), though, the Terps (3-5-2) will turn their attention to their performance on the field. The match presents another opportunity for a Terps team that’s struggling without Pace and several other key components from last year’s team to turn things around.
“Some teams in the Big Ten are more physical than the guys we’re used to,” forward Jeroen Meefout said. “If we make sure we’re at the same level as that, then we will win because we are better soccer players.”
Cirovski added: “You’re going to see our best soccer, starting [today].”
A year ago, Cirovski probably would have turned to Pace to help top VCU and get the Terps’ season turned around.
But Pace has moved on. He played his final college soccer game about 10 months ago. Now all he can do is watch.
“It’s definitely different to not be there with them,” Pace said. “Right now we’re going through kind of a rough patch like we did last year. And not being able to help in that way is hard.”