By: Eddie Hobbs
On Tuesday morning, the new NCAA men’s soccer rankings came out and the Maryland Terrapins moved up one spot to No. 5.
Where does your favorite men's #NCAASoccer team rank?
The full @UnitedCoaches Top 25: https://t.co/5ZMEPEVwWJ pic.twitter.com/NmzsS5bTwO
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) September 5, 2017
Maryland men’s soccer enters Big Ten play on Friday riding a four-game win streak. Maryland’s biggest win in that stretch was against then-No. 15 UCLA in an overtime thriller.
The Terps most recently welcomed a winless Cal Poly team on Labor Day. Maryland controlled possession for the whole match and only one goal was scored: a Gordon Wild penalty shot.
Making it count!
Take another look at Gordon's PK that gave us the lead!#FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/G8L1WGckuU— Maryland Soccer (@MarylandMSoccer) September 4, 2017
Cal Poly respected Maryland’s offense so much that the Mustangs played their whole team back and didn’t pressure the Terps.
“I thought we did well, I mean it is kind of tough when they have that many defenders,” forward DJ Reeves said. “You have to get used to that, it was their game plan. We knew they had guys out and we didn’t really know how they were going to play, but they obviously respected us.”
Maryland now shifts its focus to the newly ranked No. 4 Indiana Hoosiers, who come to Ludwig winners of four straight as well. Indiana has been dominating teams throughout its winning streak. The Hoosiers have only allowed one goal all season, with the lone goal coming from the San Francisco Dons. Head coach Sasho Cirovski discussed what his team can do to improve before facing Indiana on Friday night.
“We have to just make sure that we are ready to go,” Cirovski said. “When you play a top team like Indiana, you have to be good on all aspects of the game. So clearly, we have to pay attention to detail and make sure on the defensive side of the ball that we are sharp… but Indiana will bring the best out of us, and I am sure we will bring the best out of them.”
In the game against UCLA, Andrew Samuels went down with an apparent injury to the head. Samuels didn’t play at all against Cal Poly. Cirovski informed everyone that he is being monitored on a day-to-day basis and that he got banged in the eye area last Friday. The junior Samuels played in every match last year, and he can play a variety of positions — in multiple roles — for the Terps.
