Men's soccer receives No. 2 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

Unlike last season, the Terrapin men's soccer team didn't tune into the NCAA Tournament selection show yesterday feeling uneasy about whether it would play in the first round.

A second ACC Championship in three years Sunday left the Terps with no worries about that. A first-round bye and top-four seed in the field of 48 were all but guaranteed.

So when their name appeared on the screen as the No. 2 overall seed, behind only top-seeded Louisville, the Terps (17-2-1) were filled more with satisfaction than exhilaration. Coach Sasho Cirovski described the atmosphere inside the varsity team house as "very nondescript."

"We expected a high seed," Cirovski said. "We've been through this so many times now, we know all these games are going to be tough."

Instead of playing in the tournament's first round Thursday, as they did for the first time in eight years last season, the Terps will stay home and rest until the weekend. The road to the College Cup in Santa Barbara, Calif., as far as the team is concerned, now goes through College Park.

"We knew we would be a top-four seed. We expected that," midfielder Matt Kassel said. "The important thing is that we're going to be home until the College Cup, but our focus is on our first game."

Sunday, the Terps will face either Bucknell or Pennsylvania in the second round of the tournament at Ludwig Field. Bucknell (10-8-2) won the Patriot League title this past weekend, while Pennsylvania (12-5) finished second in the Ivy League.

No. 7 South Carolina, No. 10 Michigan, No. 15 Penn State, and unseeded Virginia and Duke highlight the rest of the Terps' bracket.

"Do we even have to play the games?" former Terp standout Taylor Twellman said on the ESPNU telecast after the seeds were announced, adding that the Terps have the easiest road to the College Cup of any of the top four seeds.

Cirovski had a different take.

"I think it's a very difficult bracket," said Cirovski, who plans to make the trip to watch the Bucknell-Pennsylvania game Thursday. "With geographic location, you're always going to have some rivalries."

The Terps are 4-0 against teams in their region this season, including two victories against the defending national champion Cavaliers. The team also beat Penn State last season in the second round of the tournament, setting up a potential rematch against the Nittany Lions in the Sweet 16 this year.

The Terps' bracket also includes South Carolia, which almost upset North Carolina earlier this season, and Michigan, which won its first-ever Big Ten championship last weekend.

Still, the Terps contend their focus is not on prospective matchups.

"In situations like this, you can't look ahead," Kassel said.

It might be tempting for the Terps to look to the past, though. In 2008, when the Terps won their third ACC Championship before also receiving a No. 2 seed, they went on to Frisco, Texas, to win their third national championship. But Cirovski knows there's a difference between savoring one accomplishment and pushing for another.

"It's an incredible feeling," Cirovski said of the team's ACC Championship. "You're still walking on air. ... We just talked about it in the locker room. We're filing it away. We had a great weekend, but we're moving forward."

ceckard@umdbk.com