When the Maryland men’s soccer team opened its season at UCLA on Aug. 26, the Terps gave up a goal two minutes into the contest.
Coach Sasho Cirovski wanted his team to get out to a better start in its second road game Friday night against No. 4 Indiana. Yet No. 5 Maryland allowed a goal seven minutes into the match.
Cirovski was upset with the lack of energy the No. 5 Terps opened with in Bloomington, Indiana. Maryland had to fight its way back into the contest to earn a 1-1 draw. Going forward, the coach acknowledged starting slow is one biggest issues his squad needs to fix.
“We can’t go down in a hole and have to fight to equalize,” Cirovski said. “We’re still trying to identify our identity a little bit. We want to come out with more energy and more quality from the start of the game. Start imposing ourselves on the opposition rather than being a reactive team. That’s something we’re going to do.”
The Terps have scored nine of their 13 goals this season in the second half. Cirovski said his teams have had this problem in his past 23 years coaching Maryland, and each time his players have fixed it. In the past two years, for example, the Terps have struggled to control early-season contests, posting a combined 7-6-5 record in games before October.
Goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier said the players need to enter each match with a better mentality. The Hoosiers set the tempo Friday and controlled possession. They out-shot the Terps, 3-1, before scoring in the seventh minute.
When Indiana defender Andrew Gutman attempted a shot, Niedermeier dove onto the ground while a group of Terps defenders blocked the attempt. However, the ball landed at Hoosiers midfielder Richard Ballard’s feet with no defenders in front of him. With Niedermeier still on the ground, Ballard struck the ball into the goal.
Niedermeier said the goal was a result of the Terps’ lack of fight. The Hoosiers didn’t give up on the play.
“We’ve given up some early goals, and we’re a team that doesn’t like to give up goals ever,” Niedermeier said. “We have to come out and we have to bring it to them. It’s figuring out that thing that gets each one of us going that’s inside of us, even if it’s individually or as a team. Everything will fall into its place.”
At halftime Friday, Cirovski told his team they were playing too slow. His speech helped as the Terps created more opportunities in the second half. With 86 minutes left, the Hoosiers held a 16-10 shooting advantage before defender Alex Crognale scored the equalizer in the 87th minute. Maryland ended the match with 14 shots.
Cirovski is confident Maryland can improve its starts. The Terps have five seniors or graduate students, all of whom have had experience with this issue in the past and can mentor the younger players. Niedermeier said he will emphasize the urgency in team meetings leading up to the Terps’ match at Rutgers on Tuesday.
Plus, Cirovski said he needs to cut his players some slack. Maryland’s game against the Hoosiers was the Terps’ third consecutive match against a ranked opponent on a Friday. The Terps were also coming off a physical contest with South Florida on Monday, when the Bulls committed 17 fouls.
The previous time the Terps surrendered an early goal, UCLA controlled possession through the first two minutes and beat the Terps with a series of passes to score early.
Cirovski has been happy with the Terps’ responses after giving up goals — they’ve scored after each opponent point this season — but he doesn’t want his team to fall behind in the first place.
“We put on a Maryland jersey, and we didn’t play to our ability,” Crognale said. “We came out flat and Indiana made us play. On Tuesday, we expect to be right on top of Rutgers from the start. If we don’t come out on Tuesday flying, it’s going to be a problem for us.”
