Was a very good game, could of went either way. Both teams looked good and well coached for being 2 days into the preseason..
Saturday's preseason match was a 3-0 Terps win over American - two goals for Eric Matzelevich, one for Emmanuel Korvah.
Here's the XI for tonight's exhibition with Syracuse: Stray, Bergmann, Gasper, Rozhansky, Sejdic, Williamson, Campbell, Reeves, Wild, Elney, St. Clair. Best guess, the usual diamond 4-4-2, something like (from left to right): St. Clair; Stray, Bergmann, Gasper, Campbell; Rozhansky; Sejdic, Reeves; Williamson; Elney, Wild. Tough to really tell. Maybe on-site reports will give better insight.
Campbell at right back would make sense since it seemed he was getting a look there in the spring. I also wouldn't be surprised if Sasho is taking a look at a 4-3-3 given the guys in the lineup and the depth in the attack that he has this year.
A couple of notes from Maryland's "Starting XI" preseason article: - Fola Adetola is listed as being a newcomer, but he's not on the roster. Redshirt, I guess? - Not surprising, but Dayne St. Clair is talked about as if he's the opening day starter at GK. - Maryland will have six regular season games televised: five on BTN and one on ESPNU. Season kicks off in 21 hours! Vamos.
In news that should surprise no one, the attack is very good and the defense has a bit of work to do. 4-2 win on the road is a decent enough way to get the season going though.
3-2 OT win over UCLA last night, fourth largest crowd in program history. Wild from the spot and Matzelevich in the 2nd half, then Elney once again with an OT winner to down the Bruins. 3-0-0 with Cal Poly on tap for Labor Day.
Definitely a goal of mine to watch more college soccer this season. I don't have any local teams to cheer for (Tulsa and SMU are probably closest), but I've decided to watch as many good teams as possible. I watched the Maryland-UCLA game today after DVR'ing it Friday night. I don't know much about the program yet, but Williamson was great late in the 2nd half. And Matzelevich looks like a defense's nightmare. His goal was fantastic. He's a freshman I understand, but I'm guessing he'll get plenty of attention from the pro scouts as his Maryland career progresses. On a side note, UCLA was pretty impressive on the road. And kudos to the crowd! It's really cool to see a crowd that great for a college game the first couple weeks of the season!
Well, Thrash, welcome aboard. Here are the other Maryland games you'll be able to watch on TV/without a BTN+ subscription: Fri. 9/8 vs. Indiana - 7 p.m. ET (BTN) Tue. 9/12 vs. Rutgers - 8 p.m. ET (BTN) Fri. 10/13 @ Wisconsin - 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU) Tue. 10/17 vs. Georgetown - 7 p.m. ET (BTN) Sun. 10/29 vs. Michigan - 4 p.m. ET (BTN) And then ideally some postseason matches. Matzelevich has impressed through three Maryland matches so far to be sure. Other guys to keep an eye on, at least to me, are Gordon Wild, Sebastian Elney, Amar Sejdic, and Eryk Williamson. Wild was a Hermann Award finalist last year, Elney and Williamson have USYNT experience, and Sejdic can float between being a dynamic creator pushing forward or more of a holding midfielder type. As for the crowd, Maryland is regularly near the top of the annual attendance average rankings and has one of the strongest student supporters groups in The Crew. This game against UCLA ranked 4th all time for game attendance with 7,532 in a venue with listed capacity of 7,000. Only surpassed by: 10/14/11 vs. Duke - 7,957 9/6/13 vs. Duke - 8,397 9/4/15 vs. UCLA - 8,449 However, last year, there were two games with attendance over 7,000 and the smallest crowd was listed at 2,002. It's a good draw.
Ran into Gordon Wilde and Chase Gasper in College Park at the Bagel Place on Friday morning the day of the UCLA game / Terps win. They were fueling up early for the big match. I talked to them for a few minutes about the season so far for the Terps and about the match-up against the Bruins. Great guys; couldn't have been any nicer; both men are a great credit to Terps' soccer and the University of Maryland.
Matzelevich is a DCU academy product. MD was a better team last year than this year - and they are pretty good this year - scary team last year.
Last night's game was bizarre to watch. It wasn't so much that Cal Poly set up in a bunker, it's that they stayed in a bunker up to the final minute despite being down a goal. I don't think they even kept a single striker forward to challenge for clearances until about 5 minutes were left. The other lesson here is that the guys need to work on breaking down a tight bunker.
Well, that was the Dayne St. Clair coming out party if there ever was one. Can't be pleased with having no shots on goal, but leaving such a game with a point thanks to your backline and keeper softens that blow a fair bit. Gotta tighten up the passing in the final third.
I didn't like how deep Rozhansky and Sejdic were dropping to get the ball last night. I felt like that allowed Indiana to get set in a strong defensive shape rather easily and limited options when they applied high pressure. Getting a draw was a positive given how the game went.
Hello, Maryland drew 0-0 at Michigan State last night. They now have a shutout streak at approximately 500 minutes.
I've been impressed with di Rosa when he's stepped in for Campbell at right back. Of the other freshmen, Matzelevich is the only one to have seen any significant time, and he certainly doesn't look out of place. I think a big reason why the defense has looked so strong is the commitment that the midfield has shown in helping out. It feels like I've already seen more defensive plays from Sejdic and Williamson than I did all of last year. Rozhansky has been a solid contributor in his defensive efforts too. It's probably been to the detriment of their attacking games, but as of right now that is looking like an acceptable trade-off.
From the game summary ... Maryland with 24 shots, 8 on target, 1 goal in a 1-1 draw. http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=211669888