Coming off of a disappointing 2-0 defeat against No. 20 Denver on Friday, No. 9 Maryland men’s soccer (1-1-1) searches to return above .500 record when the Terps take on Virginia (2-1) at Audi Field on Monday night.
However, it will not be easy.
“Everybody wants to beat us,” redshirt senior Nick Richardson said. “We have a big target on our back, we have to recognize that.”
The “target on our back” that Richardson refers to is the top-ten rank in the nation that the Terps currently hold.
The target has added meaning for Monday night’s purposes, as Virginia and Maryland have a storied rivalry dating back more than 60 years to when the schools began competing in the ACC.
In their four matchups since 2014, (including the 2015 NCAA Tournament), the Terps are 2-1-1 against the Cavaliers. Maryland will be looking to repeat its success from last season’s matchup when the Terps defeated Virginia 2-1 on September 6.
The Terps will be searching to come out of the gates with more energy than they did against Denver, when they failed to record a shot attempt until the 17th minute.
“Not good enough, poor start,” coach Sasho Cirovsky said. “You can’t start any game like that… just didn’t bring the energy, and didn’t bring the fight at the beginning of the game.”
The Terps will be looking to clean up their mistakes on set pieces, which is how the Pioneers scored both of their goals on Friday. Defender Ronan Wynne knocked in a header off a corner kick in the sixth minute, while midfielder Sam Bassett scored a penalty kick goal following a Joe Suchecki foul in the 17th minute.
“That’s the number one goal that I hate to see,” goalkeeper Niklas Neumann said. “[T]he worst goal that I can concede is a penalty and a corner…you have to be on your toes every time there’s a set piece.”
Maryland forward Joshua Bolma, who left Friday’s game right before the end of the first half following a scary collision with Denver’s goalkeeper, seemed to be back to full health as he returned for the start of the second and finished the game.
On the other side, Virginia enters off a 3-0 victory against James Madison on Thursday. In that game, forwards Leo Afonso and Philip Horton, in addition to midfielder Albin Gash, all found the back of the net. The Cavaliers outshot the Dukes by an astonishing 12 attempts (18:6), and had 13 shots on goal compared to just one for the Dukes.
Afonso, a junior, already has two goals through Virginia’s first three games.
The match will be held at Audi Field in Washington D.C., a neutral site for both schools. Kickoff is set for 6:00 PM.
