Virginia dealt midfielder John Stertzer, left, and the Terps their first loss of the season Friday.

CHARLOTTETSVILLE, Va. – During the Terrapins men’s soccer team’s annual Media Day in mid-August, coach Sasho Cirovski made his message clear: Anything less than the program’s fourth national title would be a disappointment.

“The expectation is an ACC Championship and a national championship,” he said. “We’re not afraid of the challenge that we set for ourselves.”

Days after suffering their first loss of the season at ACC rival Virginia on Friday, the No. 2 Terps (11-1-1) are still committed to answering that challenge.

In a crackling match between two of the ACC’s elite programs, the Terps demonstrated what Cirovski calls “championship fiber.” Despite playing their fifth game in 14 days, the Terps worked hard, played confidently and attacked skillfully.

But like all sports, soccer involves an element of luck. And luck just wasn’t with the Terps on Friday.

The team finished with six shots on goal at Virginia, and another four hit a post or crossbar. That string of near-misses ultimately cost the Terps their 12-game unbeaten streak and left Cirovski’s team crestfallen.

“This one hurts. This one hurts a lot,” goalkeeper Will Swaim said after the game. “Everybody put out 110 percent. You know, I guess it’s just one of those games.”

Even though a regular-season loss to a conference foe isn’t ideal, the Terps understand it doesn’t need to keep them from their final objective.

“Our goal was never to be undefeated in the regular season,” Cirovski said. “Our goal was to be undefeated in the playoffs. All the goals that we set for ourselves are in front of us.”

Using history as a guide, the 2-1 heartbreaker the Terps endured at Klöckner Stadium may have actually helped their chances of hoisting that golden trophy this December.

Since 1990, no Division I men’s soccer team has captured the national championship without dropping at least one regular-season game.

During that same period, dozens of teams have romped through the regular season unscathed, only to fall in the playoffs to squads more accustomed to pressurized situations.

Just two years ago, for instance, Akron went undefeated in the regular season before eventually losing to Virginia in the national championship on penalty kicks.

Swaim, a fifth-year senior who was a member of the Terps’ 2008 national championship team, has studied the history and understands the significance of Friday’s loss.

“I think this is more of a humbling experience than anything else,” he said. “I think this makes us take a step back and rethink things. It gets us back to the details of what made us successful.”

The Terps will have an opportunity to revisit and refine those details tonight against Atlantic Soccer Conference member Adelphi. The Panthers, who haven’t faced a top-25 team this season, have managed just 12 goals through 10 games.

Still, tonight won’t be as much about what happens against Adelphi as about what happened at Virginia. As the postseason nears, what they learn from that first loss, and how they use that knowledge to help them meet the standard they’ve set for themselves, will matter most.

“The hurt that they’re all feeling now will pay its dividends,” Cirovski said.

letourneau@umdbk.com