Stertzer's goal brings Terps to 3-1-1 in ACC play

First of all, I'd like to apologize to all the Terp faithful for the lack of blog entries over the past week. It was a busy week for those of us at Maryland with mid-term examinations throughout the entire week. Enough with my lame excuses though; we've got a lot of soccer to discuss!

Last time I spoke with all of you, the Terps were in the midst of a 1 game losing streak because of a loss at George Mason. Although I tried to hide it in my last entry (Top 3 reasons you should (not) be concerned about last night's loss), I felt that the Terps would bounce back from their loss against the Colonials, beat Duke, then come home and coast for a few games until their ACC showdown with Wake Forest. Alas, I was wrong, and the Terps got beat up by a good Duke team down in Durham. Ultimately, I think that the mini-two game losing streak was just a case of a young team that had played way better than expected all season finally coming back down to Earth. Head coach Sasho Cirovski talked in the pre-season about the potential for growing pains throughout the season, and that two game stretch proved Cirovski right.

Nonetheless, the Terps definitely got back on track during the past two games. After an out of conference win, the Hokies of Virginia Tech came to Ludwig field for Maryland's 5th ACC contest of the season. Over the course of the first 87 minutes of the game, Maryland simply could not convert on offense. The opportunities were there, but it was one of those nights where something seemed a little bit off on offense. I think some of that might have had to do with getting Casey Townsend back into the lineup. Townsend was definitely shaking off some rust, and going down 1-0 early in the game only put additional pressure on him to score.

One of the things I talked about in my last blog entry was the fact that without Townsend in the lineup, the Terps really struggled to score, evidenced by the fact that they were shutout two games in a row. I was especially concerned that Cirovski couldn't find anyone off the bench to give the team a little extra firepower on offense. The Virginia Tech game served to soothe some of those concerns, thanks to freshman John Stertzer scoring the game winning goal with 52 seconds left on the clock. Although it was not Stertzer's first goal, it was his first meaningful goal (the first time he scored was during the Duquesne blowout). Scoring in a crucial spot like he did is monumental for Stertzer's confidence, and I hope that if a starter goes down in the future, Terps fans can expect Stertzer to put some balls in the back of the net on a more consistent basis.

Despite Stertzer's game winning goal, the Player of the Game for me was undoubtedly Drew Yates. I wish I had recorded my comments to the other fans in the stands during the game, just so I could count how many times I said that Yates' play was keeping Maryland in the game. Countless times in the second half Yates possessed the ball, dribbled down the field, and either ripped a shot or got stuffed by opposing defenders just outside the 18. But on a night where no one else could get anything going on offense, Yates' play put pressure on the Hokie's defense. And as all soccer fans know, the more pressure you put on an opposing defense, the more likely you'll ultimately find a gap in the defense and get a goal. Yates' continued pressure kept Maryland offensively alert and limited Virginia Tech's time on offense. Major kudos to Mr. Yates for what I thought was an outstanding performance.

Next up for the Terps are the Georgetown Hoyas on the 13th. Enjoy the trip to DC!