Maryland men’s soccer defender Donovan Pines has been a fixture in the Terps program since he was a young boy.
A Clarksville native, Pines grew up playing soccer in the area and rooting for the Terps. So, when he was just 10 years old, Pines starting working as a ball boy for Maryland.
About eight years later, Pines is thriving in his freshman season as a reserve center back with the No. 1 Terps, logging more minutes than any other rookie on the team. Despite going through an adjustment period to the speed of college soccer, Pines has served as a reliable replacement through seven games.
“He’s an extremely talented player,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “He’s been around our program for a while. He also has a sense of comfort on the team with a lot of players. He’s an extremely focused and competitive defender. He takes a lot of pride in his ability to stop attackers.”
This season, Pines has played 211 minutes and is one of two freshmen who have appeared in every contest, serving as a substitute for defender Diego Silva.
Pines was a member of the D.C. United Academy growing up, where he played with some of his Maryland teammates. Goalkeeper Cody Niedermeier, midfielder Cody Albrecht and defenders Suli Dainkeh and Chris Odoi-Atsem met Pines through the program before he committed to the Terps in May 2015.
That factored into his decision to attend Maryland and helped ease his transition when he started practicing with the Terps in the summer of 2015. The increased speed in Maryland’s practices challenged Pines, so he focused on matching that tempo throughout his final high school season.
Pines captained the U-18 D.C. United Academy squad his senior year, but a trip to Spain over the summer with the U-19 Men’s National Team was perhaps the most influential factor in his transition. He competed against Venezuela, Mauritania, Spain and Bahrain; some of the top academy teams in the world.
“I talked to myself and said, ‘I probably have to play harder, play faster and just think faster,'” Pines said. “The speed of play, it was kind of similar. I was just like, ‘I can play hard and just increase my quality and passes and defending.’ Now, I’m doing it here at the same level.”
While Pines struggled at times, the Terps’ leadership group, which Cirovski has praised all season, helped Pines along the way.
Senior defender Alex Crognale, who plays center back alongside Pines, has helped the freshman fit into his new role. Pines also highlighted Albrecht as the most supportive teammate when he started training with the Terps. Whenever Pines made a mistake in practice, Albrecht told him to move on and stay positive.
“I love Donovan Pines,” Niedermeier said. “He’s always looking for feedback to get better. In the middle of the game he sometimes asks too many questions. He’s a beast. He wins everything. He plays smart. He definitely has a bright future ahead of him.”
Part of what makes Pines dangerous is his 6-foot-5, 195-pound frame. Between Pines and Crognale, who is also 6-foot-5, Maryland’s backline covers a lot of ground and defends against balls in the air. Cirovski involves his center backs in set pieces, too, and Pines displayed his threat on the attacking third in the Terps’ 1-1 draw with Indiana on Sept. 9.
Using his height, Pines won a free kick by jumping over his foes and heading the ball to Crognale in the box. Crognale positioned his body in front of Indiana defender Andrew Gutman and scored.
Still, Pines’ inexperience has shown at times. Off a goal kick in Maryland’s 3-2 win over Penn State on Sunday, Nittany Lions midfielder Pierre Reedy won the loose ball. Pines was out of position, and Penn State forward Dayonn Harris ran past the Terps’ backline. Reedy crossed to Harris for the score.
Pines said he still has a lot to improve on, but Cirovski said he has high upside. Cirovski plans to start using the freshman on throw-ins for upcoming matches.
“Donovan has been great so far,” Crognale said. “He’s a beast in the air. He covers an unbelievable amount of ground, and he works really hard. Him coming off the bench and being so young as a freshman, he’s playing like he’s been in the lineup for years now.”
While Cirovski met Pines as a child, the veteran coach joked he didn’t start scouting Pines until later on. Down the stretch, Cirovski said Pines will play an important factor for the Terps’ backline, which Cirovski expects will develop into one of the best units in the country.
Eight years after starting as a ball boy at Ludwig Field, Pines is living his dream of playing for his home college.
“He loves to defend,” Cirovski said. “He’s been a defender his whole life. That’s a quality that’s sometimes lost. Sometimes we take attackers and try to teach them to defend, but he’s been a defender for a while, and he just loves that. He’s going to refine that art of defending into something special.”
