Alex Shinsky was supposed to be a star for the Terrapins men’s soccer team.

TopDrawerSoccer.com ranked the midfielder as the No. 1 recruit in the nation in 2011. He started and scored a goal for U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team during the 2009 FIFA World Cup in Malawi; earned all-state honors four years straight while playing for West York Area High School in York, Pa., scoring 17 goals as a senior; and had offers from a host of elite college programs, including North Carolina, Virginia and Stanford.

But injuries marred a once-promising career, as physical setbacks in each of the past three years limited Shinsky to just 37 appearances.

After his first healthy week of practice since injuring his hamstring against Virginia Commonwealth on Sept. 8, though, Shinsky found his way back onto the field Friday night against N.C. State, and he did not disappoint. In 33 minutes, Shinsky assisted midfielder Sunny Jane’s game-tying goal while providing relentless on-ball pressure.

And while the performance doesn’t live up to what coach Sasho Cirovski expected to see from Shinsky at this point in his career, it’s a step in the right direction.

“He was great,” Cirovski said. “He’s had some injuries, and we wanted to put him through a whole week of hard training, and he made it through the whole week without reinjuring himself. We knew he was ready to play.”

Before this season, Cirovski saw promise from Shinsky. The 21st-year coach said during a preseason media luncheon in August that it was the first time he’d seen Shinsky in complete game shape since the midfielder joined the program in 2011.

Shinsky started at center midfield for both games of the Terps’ season-opening West Coast trip to Stanford and California and saw action off the bench at home against Duke and VCU before pulling his hamstring.

The junior missed the next three games before returning with eight minutes remaining in the first half against Pittsburgh at Ludwig Field on Sept. 27. Fifteen seconds after entering the game, though, Shinsky collided heads with a Panthers defender, leaving a gash on his forehead. The wound required stitches, and he missed the remainder of the game.

Four days later, on Oct. 1, Shinsky returned from injury yet again, sporting a black headband to protect the cut. He replaced midfielder Michael Sauers in the 36th minute and remained on the field until the 81st minute, when he reinjured his right hamstring. Shinsky limped angrily off the field before lying facedown on the track, missing the final nine minutes of play.

The setback would force Shinsky to miss the next seven games over the course of a month before Cirovski cleared him to play in the Terps’ 2-1 victory over the Wolfpack on Friday night. Shinsky looked like a different player with his healthy hamstring, moving around the field with confidence and grit that were missing earlier this season.

Shinsky entered for Sauers midway through the first half and made his presence known before the halftime whistle blew. In the 43rd minute, he collected the ball on the left side of the box and made a quick cut toward the goal line. After gaining a step on the Wolfpack defender, he chipped a left-footed cross toward the middle of the 18-yard box, finding a wide-open Jane, who settled the ball to his left foot and ripped an equalizing volley past diving goalkeeper Fabian Otte.

“He played to his strengths,” forward Patrick Mullins said. “He’s a pace-y guy, he can serve in a great ball and he set up Sunny brilliantly for that first goal. He presses like nobody you’ll ever see. He’s quick, and he’s got the lanky legs. He’s just all over the place.”

Cirovski said he would be looking to give Shinsky more minutes as the team moves toward postseason play by including him in a deep midfield rotation that has developed into a strength for the Terps with Jane’s improved production, Dan Metzger’s confidence at center defensive midfield and the emergence of Mikias Eticha, David Kabelik and Sauers.

For now, though, it was just good for the Terps to see a healthy Shinsky making contributions on the field.

“We knew that was going to happen,” Mullins said. “He had an insane week of training, and the man was playing out of his mind. It was just, ‘Get this guy in there. He is ready to go.’ And when he got in there, he didn’t look back.”