COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Coach Sasho Cirovski knew a tough early season schedule would provide a real test for the Maryland men’s soccer team.
“That may be the toughest schedule we’ve ever had in the month of September,” Cirovski said.
Now, with two weekends of tough nonconference opponents over and a 2-1-1 record to show for it, the Terrapins enter the second stage of the season, the ACC season. Saturday, they open the ACC slate against the Boston College Eagles, with whom the Terps split two close games last season.
The effects of that tough early schedule will be measured this weekend. And senior midfielder Stephen King said his team is better for it.
“We’re definitely more prepared. We know every game is going to be a tough game whether it’s ACC or not,” King said. “We like our strength of schedule. We think it helps prepares us for the ACC games and then hopefully if we get into the NCAA it will help us there too.”
King is the most experienced player on the Terps, having started every single game in the four years he’s played under Cirovski. The preseason All-American is a team captain and one of three regular starters remaining from the 2005 championship team.
And King has noticed the progress of his young teammates as they’ve learned from their mistakes and adjusted to the high level of play that comes with facing off against three ranked teams: No. 2 Indiana, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 13 West Virginia.
With six of the Terps’ seven freshmen having already seen playing time, including full-time starters Rodney Wallace and Yannick Salmon, the development of the freshman class has been crucial for the Terps.
“When they came here in August, they’re not used to the speed of play. They’re not used to the physical nature of the college game,” King said. “But every day we see them getting more and more used to it. They’re still growing, our team’s still growing.”
Two freshmen in particular have loomed large this season. Goalkeepers Will Swaim and Thorne Holder split time for the Terps, each starting one game last weekend after Holder was suspended for an NCAA rules violation for the season’s first weekend.
Cirovski intended on trying out both goalkeepers early in the season and eventually coming to a decision between the two. But in Holder’s lone game last Sunday against George Mason, he only faced one shot.
No decision has been made according to the coach.
“I told them we’re going to not decide until Friday,” Cirovski said. “I want to make sure we get them both some quality experiences and be able to measure them. And as we get into later in the season, into October, we should have a clear idea of what we get from both of them.”
The Boston College offense probably will prove more potent than George Mason’s lacking attack. However, the Eagles are struggling to score with only four goals on 61 shots this season.
After handling the Terps 3-1 in College Park last season in a game where former Terp goalkeeper Chris Seitz was red carded, the Eagles then fell in double overtime to the Terps in the ACC tournament.
This is a different Eagles team though, as they will be without ACC Offensive Player of the Year Charlie Davies.
“He’s a special player and that certainly affects them,” Cirovski said. “He’s a guy who could win a game on his own. He’s strong, fast, skillful. He was a great competitor.”
Still, Cirovski has emphasized the depth of the ACC and how important every game is for his team. And he recognizes that his theory of putting together a difficult early schedule will now be tested.
“I think we’ll know after Saturday how much we’ve grown and how much we’ve taken from those games,” Cirovski said. “I feel very good. I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of and we’ve shown some weaknesses, and we’re working hard to correct those already.”