Maryland men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski felt it was imperative for his side to add bench depth during the offseason, after the 2024 campaign was derailed by injuries. But reserves were seldom used in the Terps’ first two matches.
Maryland’s three goals were all scored and assisted by starters in those contests.
But junior Luke van Heukelum and senior Matias De Jesus ended th drought in Monday night’s game against Saint Francis. Both came off the bench, with van Heukelum scoring twice and de Jesus assisting a trio of goals in the Terps’ 6-0 victory over the Red Flash (0-3) at Ludwig Field.
It was Maryland’s largest shutout win since 2010. The 2-0-1 start stands in stark contrast to a lethargic start to last year’s season.
van Heukelum’s double was potentially the most positive sign from the victory. The forward has had his share of struggles stemming back to last season. van Heukelum made 10 starts his freshman season, but made that same number of appearances in 2024 — largely due to injury.
van Heukelum was Maryland’s starting striker for this season’s first two games. He struggled to finish chances in both appearances, though he registered an assist against Bucknell on Friday night.
On Monday night, head coach Sasho Cirovski moved van Heukelum to the bench in favor of freshman Mateo Caride.
A stellar evening started with frustration for the junior forward. van Huekelum nearly had a goal, but was ruled offsides. The junior’s poacher instincts paid off soon after though.
de Jesus forced a save from Sorenson in the 40th minute. That stop fell directly to van Heukelum though, who passed the ball across the line for the game’s opening score.
Maryland scoring first seemed inevitable from kickoff, although the first 23 minutes of play were ugly all around. The teams combined for five fouls and just two shots — both of which were off-target strikes by midfielder Albi Ndrenika.
The Terps held the possession for the vast majority of the half. Saint Francis consistently defended with 10 players behind the ball, laboring Terps’ attacks as they labored forward.
When Maryland (2-01) was able to work the ball into the box, Sorenson controlled the pace. The senior waited as long as possible when taking goal kicks, eventually receiving a yellow card in the 30 minute, for his consistent theatrics.
But the Terps still lead 1-0 at the half. The score wasn’t surprising, given Saint Francis’ lackluster attacking displays so far this season.
The Red Flash hadn’t scored in its first two games of the season, logging 15 total shots across those contests. Maryland had 13 in Monday night’s first half — 11 of which came after Cirovski made his first cohort of substitutions in the 24th minute.
de Jesus was part of that reserve group and immediately started making runs at Red Flash defenders.
That approach continued into the second half, where he earned two more assists. The first was on a move that Ndrenika finished off in the 58th minute.
The senior tallied his final assist on accident. He sent an effort off the crossbar and it deflected off of van Heukelum’s face for Maryland’s third goal of the evening.
The Terps added three more goals in the final 10 minutes of the match. All three scorers — senior Brian St. Martin, freshman Henry Bernstein, and freshman Mateo Caride — earned their first career goal during that stretch.
