The Terrapin men’s soccer team kicked off its impressive spring schedule Sunday at Ludwig field with a largely inconsequential 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace FC.
The main storylines from Sunday, though, weren’t who the Terps played, but rather with whom they played.
Coach Sasho Cirovski learned early last week that the NCAA had awarded sixth-year midfielder Doug Rodkey another year of eligibility. The slick midfielder, who started regularly last season before breaking the metatarsal bone in his right foot in September, looked like his old self Sunday, slicing up the right flank and nutmegging defenders with regularity.
On the flip side, the Terps were without the services of defensive midfielder Matt Kassel and defenders Ethan White and Alex Lee.
Kassel is recovering from hip surgery and will likely miss the spring, while White is nursing an ankle injury and may also sit out the spring.
Cirovski said Lee hopes to be cleared by early April, but he likely won’t see action in the team’s scrimmages. Lee, who missed the season’s final 10 games after he was struck by a car last October, should be fully cleared for action this summer.
Forward Casey Townsend, whose gimpy strides last season became a symbol of the Terps’ inconsistent offense as he struggled to overcome a nagging ankle injury, is “fully back in form,” according to Cirovski. He looked it Sunday, sprinting effortlessly and harassing defenders with the kind of athleticism fans had gotten accustomed to after his freshman season.
There’s obviously high expectations for the forward tandem of Townsend and Jason Herrick. Herrick earned the first-team All-ACC honors expected of Townsend last season, and Cirovski said “there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be the best frontline in the country.”
Should one of the two fall victim to injury once more, the Terps already look to have an able replacement. Early enrollee Patrick Mullins, a natural lefty with good height (6-foot-1), was the first player to come off the bench Sunday and instantly made plays belying his age. With an intelligent diagonal run early on, Mullins freed himself from the Palace backline and nearly caught the challenging goalkeeper off his line with a lifted shot on goal. “He’s going to be a real positive contributor to the program,” Cirovski said. “All of the players love him and he’s got some talent. I’m excited to have him.”
The team’s other early enrollee, former New Zealand U-17 men’s national team captain Gordon Murie, was sidelined with an ankle injury, but Cirovski hopes to have him back in two weeks’ time.
Here are some other notes and quotes from the game:
– Midfielder Kaoru Forbess notched the Terps’ lone goal, an upper-90 blast from about 22 yards out off a nice run and dish from Townsend. Forbess also missed a penalty shot he earned with some fancy footwork inside the box.
– London Woodberry is still a man without a position. The athletic sophomore started at right back for the Terps, but will likely be squeezed out with the return of Lee and the arrival of incoming recruits. He’s also an option at right midfield and right forward.
– Jordan Cyrus, meantime, may have found his. The sophomore was an All-American forward in high school, listed as a defender/midfielder before last season, and yet saw most of his action up top last year. Sunday, Cyrus came in as a wide midfielder. “We trained with Jordan [at midfield] most of last year and he didn’t really understand the position, but he’s starting to understand it now,” Cirovski said.
– Cirovski on the unit he’s most looking forward to developing: “I’m really looking forward to seeing our backline next year be much better. Last year, we had three fresh bodies out there and in this next year… I think we need to be able to have the backline connected and become a little stronger and a little sharper on some things.”
– Cirovski on his revamped coaching staff, which includes two new assistants and his first director of soccer operations: “I got all three guys that I wanted. They’re all ones I wanted and we didn’t have to go too deep into the search. They’re great. They’re terrific. They’re all relatively inexperienced in the coaching ranks, but I feel like it’s a perfect fit for the program myself because I can mold them into the Maryland way pretty quickly. They’ve already done a great job and the players love them.”
That’s all I got from Saturday. The Terps next play Saturday, March 27, when they head down south for a date with Wake Forest and Campbell.
Jonas Shaffer is The Diamondback’s men’s soccer beat writer. He can be reached at shaffer@umdbk.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jonas_shaffer.