One week ago, the Terrapin men's soccer team traveled south for a road game against a struggling ACC opponent.
The then-No. 4 Terps came away with a disappointing result, allowing Clemson to score three goals in less than a minute and a half during a second-half stretch before losing 5-3, giving the Tigers' season new life.
Tonight's game at Virginia Tech is take two.
The Hokies (4-6-1, 0-4-0 ACC) have given up 28 goals in 11 games this season, most in the conference. After advancing to the College Cup last season and earning a No. 10 ranking in the preseason NSCAA/adidas coaches' poll, Virginia Tech has lost 4-1 to unranked Hofstra and lost its four ACC games, including an 8-2 loss against No. 1 Wake Forest last weekend.
For the No. 10 Terps (8-3-0, 2-2-0), tonight's game is another opportunity to pick up their third conference win against an opponent that doesn't match up on paper. But coach Sasho Cirovski said they can't repeat last week's mistakes, which started on the back line.
"We have to make sure our defending is much better than it was at Clemson, and we need to shore up any spaces in the midfield," Cirovski said. "Obviously, that's the key. Any time you go on the road in the ACC, you gotta be good in the back."
Currently fifth place in the conference standings with four games remaining, the Terps can't afford a third conference loss if they want to capture second place and delay a possible rematch with Wake Forest until the ACC tournament finals.
While the defensive unit of Omar Gonzalez, A.J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace and Rich Costanzo must improve on their performance at Clemson, it will be up to the forwards and midfielders to finish scoring chances, something the team has struggled with all season.
Midfielder Jeremy Hall and forward Casey Townsend have been the Terps' hottest offensive players the last two games, combining for all five of the team's goals against Clemson and No. 21 Charlotte Tuesday night.
"We need to get a good result down there on the road," Townsend said. "It's a big game because our last result wasn't what we wanted."
Hall also contributed the game-winning assist in the Terps' 2-1 win Tuesday and said afterward that Cirovski already talked to the team about being more prepared for its winnable opportunity at Virginia Tech than it was against Clemson.
"It's an ACC game, and we dropped our last two, so we need to get back in the win column in the ACC," Hall said. "You're not gonna get many chances to go out and win. But we have another chance."
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