There will be no national television audience tonight when the No. 9 Terrapin men’s soccer team takes the field against Hartford for its home opener.
The Terps won’t be playing a traditional soccer power under the bright lights of a state-of-the-art stadium like The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., either. Instead, they’ll be sharing locker-room space in a trailer inside the modest confines of Ludwig Field.
But the Terps say they will be just as focused for tonight’s game as they were for last Friday’s season opener against No. 14 UCLA.
“We don’t think less of a team just because they don’t have such a big name of maybe UCLA or because we’re not playing on national TV,” said sophomore midfielder Rodney Wallace. “We’re playing at home; it’s the first game. We’re excited and we’re gonna get after it, and hopefully get a result.”
Hartford finished last season with a 7-4-6 record and was picked in a preseason coaches poll to finish sixth in the 2008 America East Conference. Davidson, who the Terps will face Sunday, was seventh in the preseason Southern Conference rankings.
But Terp coach Sasho Cirovski said that should make no difference when it comes to mentally preparing for the games.
“We’re going out with the same respect we did last weekend,” Cirovski said. “Our motto’s always been, ‘Respect everyone and fear no one.’ I’ll be disappointed if our players don’t show the level of respect for Hartford and Davidson that they showed last weekend.”
While this weekend’s opponents may not be of the same caliber as last’s, the Terps admit they have their own improvements to make.
“Our goal is just to continue improving from last weekend,” Cirovski said. “We got a lot out of the games. We had really good moments in both games, and yet we had a lot of moments we could rectify.”
Starting in goal tonight for the Terps will be sophomore Will Swaim, according to Cirovski, who actually coached Hartford to two NCAA tournament berths before arriving at this university. This game will be the first time Cirovski has coached against his former team.
The Hartford connection might make Cirovski extra excited for tonight’s game, but for his players, the first home game of the year is enough to make them eager – even if it isn’t a primetime matchup.
“The team is definitely getting there,” senior defender Rich Costanzo said. “We are getting better, and I’m excited for the weekend. Hopefully we can bring it all together.”
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