The net result

Sitting on a wooden bench outside the public policy school Tuesday, Will Swaim's mind began to wander.

For the previous 20 minutes, the fifth-year Terrapins men's soccer goalkeeper had been reflecting on the circuitous route his collegiate career had taken to that point. Then he paused. He struggled to find the right words to explain his feelings heading into the No. 4 Terps' senior night matchup tonight against Wake Forest.

So he did what most poor graduate students do: He borrowed from a friend.

"My high school coach says it all the time, and it's kind of stuck in my mind: Everything happens for a reason," Swaim said. "And whether you believe it or not, it's definitely a good motto to go by."

Swaim should know. After all, he's had plenty of opportunities to question everything since arriving at this university four and a half years ago.

First, it was starting as a true freshman. Then it was sitting on the bench as a younger teammate led the Terps to a national championship. Then, last year, it was redshirting during what was supposed to be his final season.

Swaim often calls his journey a "roller coaster." But after riding out the many ups and downs of a career that's been defined by the men ahead of him in goal, the 22-year-old master's candidate is ready to leave behind a championship legacy he can call his own.

"I get goosebumps thinking about that," Swaim said. "It'd be a hell of an ending."

AN UNLIKELY START

Like many kids growing up in Ellicott City, just a 40-minute drive up Interstate 95, Swaim was a lifelong Terps fan. He attended a handful of coach Sasho Cirovski's summer camps and was well aware of the Terps' impressive soccer tradition.

He went on to star at Howard High, earning second-team all-state honors during his senior year. But the Terps initially passed on the local prospect, content with their goalkeeping situation. Chris Seitz, the 2006 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, was just a sophomore and seemed poised to man the goal for at least one more season.

Then Seitz began to garner major attention from MLS scouts, and it soon became clear the allure of a professional career was too much to pass up. Cirovski knew Seitz's impending departure would leave the Terps uncomfortably thin at goalkeeper, so he gave his former camper a call.

"It was incredibly exciting," said Swaim, who had been mulling over offers from several Big Ten schools at the time. "I think that next day at school, I wore a Maryland shirt. And everyone's like, ‘Why're you wearing that?' I'm like, ‘No big deal, no big deal. They just started calling me.' So yeah, I was definitely very excited."

Swaim had been offered a scholarship from his dream school to play the sport he loved. Everything seemed perfect.

THE CHALLENGER

And for at least a little while, it was. Swaim split time with fellow freshman Thorne Holder for the majority of the season, but he made a favorable enough impression to start throughout the ACC Tournament and the Terps' two NCAA Tournament games. In his 12 starts that year, he allowed less than a goal a game.

Seeking a guarantee to start full-time, Holder transferred the following year. Swaim seemed the logical starter in goal.

And then, once again, Swaim's phone rang. It was Cirovski. He'd just signed Zac MacMath, the nation's top goalkeeping recruit. For the second time in two years, there would be an open competition in goal.

"When I came to Maryland, I came knowing that we already had good players in goal," MacMath said. "Sasho straight-up told me, ‘We're not going to hand you the spot.'"