Men's soccer's 2009 Elite Eight loss broke from trend

With its crushing 3-0 defeat to Virginia in last year's NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, the Terrapin men's soccer team ended not only its season but also one of the program's longstanding streaks.

Before last year, the Terps had never lost in an Elite Eight game, going 8-0-1 all-time. In their one draw, they advanced on penalty kicks in a 2005 match against Akron.

But the Cavaliers, who went on to win the national championship, capitalized on the Terps' young backline and recorded their 11th consecutive shutout.

This year, the No. 2 seed Terps (19-2-1) are hoping to prove last year's shutout was an anomaly. They face No. 10 seed Michigan on Saturday at Ludwig Field for a berth in the College Cup in Santa Barbara, Calif.

"We had an unbelievable run, and we played well," coach Sasho Cirovski said of the 2009 season. "In particular with what we had to overcome, last year was a resounding successful year."

After starting the tournament unseeded for the first time since 2001, the Terps made a surprising run as defending national champions. An opening-round win against Loyola preceded road upsets against No. 7 seed Penn State and No. 10 seed Harvard that earned the Terps a third date with the Cavaliers.

But an own goal by defender Taylor Kemp in the sixth minute, a missed penalty kick by forward Jason Herrick in the second half and misfortunes on the defensive end led to a Virginia rout. Those irregularities deviated from what had been a normally clutch Terp program facing its final test before the College Cup.

"There's no shame in losing, but it hurt a lot," Cirovski said. "We've carried that hurt into this year, and I think it's brought a lot of focus to our team."

Even after losing six starters from the year before and playing against a Virginia team that hadn't allowed a goal in more than a month, the Terps deemed the loss a disappointment given the program's annual championship expectations.

"If we don't make it [to the national championship], it's a failure," midfielder Matt Kassel said. "We know what it really feels like to be the last team standing."

Even with the loss, the Terps have one of the most impressive NCAA Tournament resumes of the past decade.

Before Cirovski led the program to the Elite Eight in 1998, the Terps had not played in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal match since 1969. Under Cirovski's watch, though, no program has been to more Elite Eights or Final Fours than the Terps since 2002.

With a College Cup berth on the line, Cirovski is 5-1-1, including an unbeaten record at home. Only Wake Forest, which didn't make the tournament this year, has a comparable track record, with College Cup appearances in each of the past four seasons.

The key, Cirovski said, has been maintaining a regular-season mentality through the postseason. In the NCAA Tournament, games aren't as frequent and downtime is readily available.

"We keep practice short and sharp," Cirovski said. "We keep them involved with what we're doing so we're not doing too much or too little."

Especially now, Cirovski is focused on continuing what has led to a 15-game winning streak, the nation's leading scoring offense and a program-record 15 shutouts.

"You trust all the things you've done all year and that you put them to good use," Cirovski said. "We know what is at stake. We always talk about being aware of the significance but absorbing the substance."

ceckard@umdbk.com