This past fall, I hoped (as I do every year) that the Maryland Men's soccer team would be successful. They always make the NCAA tournament, and are perennially one of the top-ranked teams in the country. So, "success" for them would mean a National Championship, or at least a berth in the College Cup (the semifinal round.) Since I held this team so dear in my time at school (never missing a home game), I've of course written about them here before. Two years ago I had the pleasure of following them to two playoff games on the road, a tough route to a championship they fell short of reaching. And this past season, I had the opportunity to see them play when they took on Seton Hall just a short train ride away in the New Jersey suburbs. Although I was giddy to see them play (and to buy treats in support of the SH cheerleading team) that game itself was particularly frustrating: neither side scored, fouls and missed-opportunites were rampant, and despite Seton Hall not even close to playing on the same level as the Terps, they were competent enough to shutout the visitors. Oh, and Juan Agudelo, rising star of the US National Team and member of the New York Red Bulls, was there checking out the college game he eschewed to, you know, make some dough.
Now, I had especially wanted the Terps to do well this year so they might erase the woes of the football team (ineptly managed by a first-year coach) and the emerging woes of the men's basketball team (shakily starting their season under a first-year coach). However, no men's program at College Park is nearly as successful as the Maryland field hockey team which just became National Champions for the fifth time in the last 10 years (even winning back-to-back titles twice in that stretch, including this year.) Obviously, they're doing very well and won't be one of the athletic programs cut from the school budget. Actually, they should probably get more money, press, and notoriety than basketball and football--but we know that won't happen.
At any rate, I was excited to watch the live broadcast of the Terps playoff game on Sunday. I thought they were a lock for the win: a team with regular post-season experience in a third-round game, at home, against Louisville (who, despite being last year's tourney runner-up, was just a mid-conferance squad this season ... in the Big East.) But despite all the Terps' on-field talent and off-field advantages, Louisville burnt them three times (in the same way) for three goals. Though the Terps equalized twice, they evidentally didn't learn to lock down the quick counterattack off a long ball and gave up a goal too late in the game for another comeback. A disappointing result, especially considering this is how I watched them finish their seson twice in college--beaten at home in the third round by an inferior team.
By now it's long time to finish up this post, and all further writing about my Terps soccer fandom, with this:
https://acrobat.com/#d=wq3-SN5HnklixaoSqTjL8Q
It's a scene I wrote last winter for a short-play contest about D.C.-area sports. I actually didn't finish it in time to submit it, though. Eventually, I'll write a post about missed opportunities, risk/reward, and the agony/ecstacy of a soccer match. Until then, you have these few pages--relics from a time when I thought I could possibly try to be a playwright.
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