Whether it was at basketball or soccer practice growing up, Maryland men’s soccer forward DJ Reeves always won suicide sprints as the fastest player on his teams. Now, Reeves has used his speed to create scoring chances for the top-ranked team in the country.

In Maryland’s 2-1 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament championship Sunday, Reeves utilized his speed to score one minute and 20 seconds into his first career start.

“DJ has scary speed,” coach Sasho Cirovski said.

Reeves was born into an athletic family — his dad, Gregory, played baseball at Wright State — and he remembers being fast as a child. As Reeves progressed in his soccer career, he had guidance in improving his speed.

Reeves and some of his Soccer Association of Columbia teammates worked with trainer Derek Phillips to develop agility. When he played with D.C. United Academy, Reeves learned from a number of coaches who put him through parachute drills and core exercises to improve his base and posture. One of the focuses of these drills was to get Reeves to move his arms quicker. The Ashton native said that helped improve his acceleration.

Cirovski runs an up-tempo system that Reeves said fits his skillset well. It was one of the reasons he committed to the Terps.

“Sasho always tries to emphasize me to use my speed to put fear into defenders,” Reeves said. “When they get the ball, he always tells me to full-on sprint to them because it makes them make a decision. The speed helps me get into position quicker and it helps me on the opposing side if we win the ball back defensively.”

Before Sunday, Reeves was often the first Maryland player off the bench. He entered at the end of the first half and toward the beginning of the second. Using his speed, Reeves kept opponents off-balance after they were tired from guarding starting forwards Gordon Wild and Sebastian Elney. The sophomore entered the Big Ten tournament with six assists and one goal.

Reeves continued to impress by scoring in Maryland’s 3-2 win over Michigan in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. Reeves started the second half Friday in the semifinals, and he replaced Elney in the starting lineup Sunday. The 6-foot, 171-pound striker capitalized by putting Maryland on the board 80 seconds into the contest.

Defender Suli Dainkeh sent a cross down the field to Reeves. Reeves sprinted past Wisconsin defender Matej Radonic, dribbled by the diving goalkeeper and kicked the ball into the middle of the net, putting smiles on almost all of his teammates’ faces.

“It definitely set the pace and gave us a little bit of a relief scoring that early,” Elney said. “Usually in championship games, we’re really dead locked and goals are hard to come by.”

Cirovski views Reeves as talented enough to start, though he’s played behind two other talented strikers for the majority of the season. As Maryland enters the NCAA tournament as the No. 1-overall seed, Reeves wants to use his speed regardless of his role.

“Any time he’s on the field, any ball over the top, any ball that’s questionable for the backs, any 50-50 ball, he’s going to get to,” forward George Campbell said. “It’s really, really dangerous.”