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The Terps will host the Sharks at Ludwig Field on Thursday.
Maryland men’s soccer advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament had become a near-guarantee by 2020. At that point, the Terps had made it in 18 of their previous 24 seasons.
In the four seasons since, Maryland has advanced there just once. In 2021, it fell in the first round to Long Island. Maryland will look to avenge that defeat Thursday night, when it takes on LIU once again.
It would be unwise to count out a Sasho Cirovski-led team in November, but the risk of defeat feels a bit higher than it once did.
The match kick-off at 7 p.m. and stream on ESPN Plus.
The Sharks’ 2024 season began with an unorthodox run of nonconference results. They earned impressive draws against UConn and eventual Big East champion Georgetown, but also lost to Manhattan, UMass Lowell and Marist.
In conference play, LIU was steadily one of the better teams in the Northeast Conference. Its only loss came in an upset by Howard, and it ended as the No. 3-seed in the NEC Tournament.
They crushed No. 2-seed Saint Francis in the first round before going to penalties with No. 1-seed Fairleigh Dickinson and winning a thrilling shootout, 5-4.
This is seventh-year head coach Michael Mordocco’s third time leading the Sharks to the national tournament, and he was in charge of leading them to their previous win over Maryland.
Stephane Njike, freshman forward, No. 8 — Njike didn’t seem to have too difficult of a time adjusting to Division I soccer after coming in from France. He is LIU’s leader in both goals (5) and assists (4). He came up big in its NEC semifinal victory, scoring twice against Saint Francis. Njike was named the conference’s rookie of the year.
Eoin Gawronski, senior goalkeeper, No. 1 — Gawronski also brought home some hardware in 2024, being named the NEC’s top goalkeeper for the season. Gawronski has been a brick wall in the Sharks’ net all season, allowing less than a goal per game with a save percentage of 76.3%. He has been in net for seven shutouts.
Alan Martinez, senior midfielder, No. 13 — Martinez is a veteran playmaker in the Sharks midfield. He was named to the all-conference second team and is a captain on this year’s team. He is tied with Njike for the team lead with five goals and has three assists to go along with it.
Defense. LIU has been a solid defensive team all season. Led by Gawronski in between the goalposts, teams have found difficulty scoring goals against the Sharks. They have allowed more than one goal in just five of their 19 total games and are allowing slightly more than a goal per game. When Maryland has been at its best this year, it has played with a similar philosophy.
Strength of schedule. LIU has simply had a much easier path to the NCAA Tournament than the Terps. The Sharks’ best result is a 2-2 draw against Georgetown, but they don’t have a win against any team that’s in the tournament. They also barely escaped a one-bid conference. The conference’s best team and regular season champion Mercyhurst was ineligible, so LIU actually finished fourth.
1. Sasho’s revenge? Not many schools can say they are undefeated against Cirovski and Maryland, but LIU can. The team’s 1-0 victory over Maryland in 2021 is the only meeting the two have ever had in men’s soccer. Cirovski’s team largely dominated that game before conceding a late goal on a counter-attack.
2. Which version of Maryland shows up. The Terps looked like a completely different team to close out 2024 than they did to start. This can’t entirely be attributed to injuries to players like Leon Koehl and William Kulvik, but it certainly didn’t help. With more than a week to prepare for the contest, Koehl and Kulvik should be back fully healthy, with the only question mark being Kenny Quist-Therson. Maryland will be looking to regain the form it had early in conference play.
3. Can Terps find offense? Maryland’s issue the last time it played the Sharks was an inability to find the back of the net. Against a strong defense and good goalie, Maryland could face a similar challenge Thursday night. An early goal could be massive for the Terps’ confidence and put them in a position to play defensively the rest of the game.
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