[Originally posted Dec. 12, 2018]
I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to the Maryland Terps Mens Championship Soccer Team who defeated Akron 1-0 on Sunday for their third NCAA crown under the direction of Coach Sasho Cirovski. This accomplishment is astounding — given the nature of low scoring soccer games where the underdog in terms of talent has a better chance than in other sports to come up with some type of fluke goal against the run of play to pull off upsets. Maryland recovered from a surprisingly unstable early season of disappointing losses to end up shutting out their opponents in the high level NCAA tournament games. Certainly Coach Cirovski has established a dynasty type program at Maryland where he is able to recruit and develop top level talent. But he also instills a tough-mindedness that equips his squad with the resiliency and fortitude to play their best under the brightest lights. It was nice to see the athletic program at our state’s flagship university receive a much-needed boost in troubling times.