Men's soccer's Cortes too much for Tigers

CARY, N.C. – The Terrapin men's soccer team found itself warming up earlier than it had all season before yesterday's ACC Tournament quarterfinals matchup against Clemson.

The noon start came seven hours before any other game the Terps had played this season, and as the sun rose over WakeMed Soccer Park, the Terps started to feel the heat. It showed on the field in their sluggish 2-1 victory over the seventh-seeded Tigers.

"We all have our routines that we go through at the beginning of the game, and us playing at noon, it took us a little bit out of rhythm," forward Casey Townsend said. "We just weren't mentally prepared to enter the game at that point."

Players struggled to maintain the high energy that coach Sasho Cirovski demands, and the Tigers rebounded from an early one-goal deficit to force the Terps to fight for a victory.

But even a subpar performance resulted in a win for the second-seeded Terps (15-2-1), who extended their win streak to 11 games and will face sixth-seeded Virginia tomorrow.

"Some days you play very well and you don't win, and some days you don't play so well and win, so we'll take the second of that," Cirovski said. "The key for us today was to survive and advance, and we did that."

The temperature, which reached near 70 degrees at times, forced Cirovski to rotate players off his bench with regularity against the Tigers. Defender Alex Lee, in particular, came out midway through the first half because "he was a bit queasy," according to Cirovski.

"It was the first time we've played during a really hot daytime game all year," Cirovski said. "We're a team that plays with a lot of energy. We weren't able to keep the ball very much, and we had to exert excess amounts of energy defending. We weren't as crisp as we wanted to be."

The Terps grabbed an advantage before they could even break a sweat, though, scoring a goal in the first 10 minutes against the Tigers (5-9-4). Midfielder Matt Kassel sent a low corner kick to midfielder Paul Torres, who touched the ball to Billy Cortes, starting at right back for the fourth straight game. Cortes placed a kick from 16 yards into the lower right corner of the goal.

"I knew that if I put it on frame, it would be a goal," Cortes said.

The lead was short-lived. Just as they did against the Terps in their Oct. 16 meeting, the Tigers found a way to tie the game. On the team's lone shot of the first half, forward Austin Savage flicked a cross from midfielder Tommy Drake past goalkeeper Zac MacMath to shock the Terps in the 19th minute.

"We were feeling pretty confident at that point," Townsend said. "We've done that a couple times. That was their only opportunity that half. We can't let that happen."

For the first time in 10 games, the Terps entered halftime without the lead.

"They don't quit," Cirovski said. "We knew we had to raise our game in the second half."

Cortes sparked the attack once again with a cross from more than 40 yards out on the right side. Townsend rose over a host of Clemson defenders to head in the eventual game-winner in the 56th minute.

The Terps have more than 48 hours until their semifinal match against the Cavaliers, who beat third-seeded Wake Forest, 1-0, yesterday. Until then, the Terps will stay out of the sun and do their best to recover from a demanding ACC Tournament opener.

"We just want to get our legs back. ... We're glad we're playing when it's dark [tomorrow]," Cirovski said. "We know we have to be better on Friday, and we will be."

ceckard@umbk.com