Weeks after season’s start, men's soccer adds freshman midfielder

The Terrapins men's soccer team's public-address announcer found himself in an awkward situation midway through the second half of Friday's 4-0 win over Stanford.

As Bob Johnson glanced at the Terps' roster, the name of the player trotting onto Ludwig Field — No. 9 — was mysteriously absent.

Recognizing his responsibility to announce all substitutions, Johnson improvised.

"Entering the game for the Terrapins is … No. 9," he said.

After the game, coach Sasho Cirovski identified the young man behind the number: Mikias Eticha, an 18-year-old midfielder from Ethiopia.

The NCAA Clearinghouse ruled Eticha, who trained with the No. 2 Terps (4-0) this summer, eligible to play at 3 p.m. Friday, only four hours before the Terps took the field in front of the second-largest crowd in program history.

"He only just got cleared, so we haven't been able to announce him," Cirovski said after the Stanford game.

The D.C. United Academy member seems set to join an already deep midfield rotation. Cirovski, looking to rebuild his team's middle third after losing every regular starter last offseason, had been playing as many as eight midfielders a night.

With the addition of Eticha, that number should rise to nine. He has seen playing time during the second half of his first two matches, and he was the third midfielder off the bench in both occasions, coming in after freshmen Alex Shinsky and Dan Metzger.

Eticha immigrated to the Washington area several years ago and attended the Steward School in Richmond, Va. He played three matches with D.C. United's reserves this summer and also starred for United's under-18 team.

"He's a hidden gem in this area," Cirovski said of Eticha, who has four years of eligibility remaining. "He's an unknown outside of the Capital Beltway area, but he is a player."

MR. 300

Cirovski picked up career win No. 300 when the No. 4 Terps outlasted Radford, 2-1, on Sunday.

The win pushed him to No. 10 on the all-time wins list among active Division I men's soccer coaches. Before Sunday, he was tied with Boston coach Neil Roberts, who is in his 27th season helming the Terriers.

Since arriving at this university in 1993, Cirovski has transformed a once-struggling program into a national power. He coached the Terps to the 2005 and 2008 national titles and has six College Cup appearances and four ACC titles.

Still, the 2005 NSCAA National Coach of the Year said he wouldn't allow the milestone to distract him from his primary focus: Friday's ACC opener against Boston College.

"To me, it's just a number," Cirovski said. "Right now, the most important thing is that we're 4-0. We've got to get ready for Boston College."

LEE AILING

The Terps' backline took a major hit Friday night when defender Alex Lee left midway through the second half with an undisclosed leg injury.

The senior co-captain arrived at Sunday's 2-1 win over Radford in street clothes, and Cirovski has yet to announce a timetable for his return.

"He wasn't ready to play today, and he's going to be monitored throughout the week," Cirovski said after the game. "We don't have all the details of the testing done yet, with the weekend being as hectic as it was."

Cirovski opted to start freshman Kyle Roach in Lee's defensive slot, and in his first minutes of the season, Roach proved effective. The Highlanders' lone score, a 20-yard rocket from midfielder Anthony Payne in the 61st minute, was their only shot on goal.

"I think [Roach] did a great job," Cirovski said. "He's a testament to what I tell the guys: ‘If you're not getting the minutes, your number could be called any time.'"

letourneau@umdbk.com