Maryland men’s soccer head coach Sasho Cirovski has built one of the country’s premier programs in College Park since his arrival in 1993. He has cemented himself as a top college soccer coach with his ability to reload talent year after year and produce big-name players.
Cirovski’s level of consistency is unmatched. Across his 32-year tenure, the Terps have three national championships and 29 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a remarkable stretch of 22 straight that was snapped in 2023.
After
that disastrous campaign, where the Terps finished bottom of the Big Ten, success was sorely needed in 2024. The Terps started the season red-hot, rising as high as No. 2 in the national rankings, but injuries and a string of lackluster offensive performances ailed them down the stretch. Maryland lost its final four games heading into the tournament and ultimately fell to No. 8-seed Wake Forest in a tight second-round clash.
Fortunately for Maryland fans, Cirovski was extremely active in the offseason, bringing in 11 new players to bolster his side.
“We focused a lot of the offseason, in the recruiting season and the development season to add a lot of depth to our team,” Cirovski said. “I think this will be our deepest squad that we have had.”
Key losses
Four starters, who combined for 6,102 minutes and 73 starts last season, departed. This will hit the defense hard — only Luca Costabile remains from last year’s starting unit.
Center back William Kulvik’s leadership will be missed along the backline. A four-year Terp, Kulvik earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and was selected No. 83 in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. His partner at the back, Bjarne Thiesen, is also gone. The 6-foot-5 defender was a staple in the starting lineup, nullifying aerial threats with his towering presence.
Across his five seasons with the Terps, defender Alex Nitzl appeared in 71 games and made 68 starts. His versatility across the midfield and backline allowed him to become a regular.
Despite only playing one season with Maryland, forward Max Rogers had an outsized impact. Between his marvelous strikes from outside the box and dangerous set piece deliveries, Rogers racked up four goals and a team-high nine assists.
Top returners
When the Terps were fully healthy last season, they were one of the best teams in the country. They still return loads of production from that roster.
Midfielder Leon Koehl was the heartbeat of Maryland’s lineup, and his absence late in the season showed that — his injury coincided with the Terps’ four-game losing streak. Koehl went a country-best 7-of-7 from the penalty spot and added two assists, leading to an All-Big Ten first team nod.
Albi Ndrenika and Chris Steinleitner completed the midfield trio. Ndrenika, who battled injuries throughout his freshman and sophomore campaigns, was fully healthy last season, enabling him to produce four assists and a goal. Steinleitner bounced around for two seasons before becoming a regular for the Terps in 2024, scoring one goal and assisting three more.
A durable player roaming the left flank, defender Luca Costabile’s game has skyrocketed at Maryland, particularly offensively. He logged a team-high 1,749 minutes, contributed the second-most assists on the team (5) and scored his first two collegiate goals in 2024.
In goal, Laurin Mack has the steady hands Maryland needs. A conference all-freshman team selection in 2024, Mack logged 52 saves and three clean sheets.
On the wings, forward Colin Griffith and Sadam Masereka combined blazing pace and goalscoring nous to great effect. Griffith finished second on the team with six goals and notched an assist. Masereka, a Lindsey Wilson College transfer, registered four goals and two assists while starting every game.
New additions
Cirovski addressed depth issues over the offseason with one of his best-ever incoming groups. Maryland’s 2025 recruiting class was ranked the third-best in the country, according to Top Drawer Soccer.
Led by No. 35-ranked recruit forward Rocket Ritarita, this year’s group has the potential to make an immediate impact. Forward Mateo Caride, goalkeeper Alexander Milosevic, defender Emil Nymann Anderson, and midfielders Henry Bernstein (No. 77-ranked recruit), Casey Price (No. 133-ranked recruit) and Luke Burdett round out the class.
Alongside the seven freshmen, Maryland was aggressive in the transfer portal. The Terps brought in four quality transfers: forward Stephane Njike, defender Lasse Kelp, midfielder Joseph Umberto Picotto and defender Tristen Rose. Those additions could pay dividends
Njike was a standout freshman for Long Island last season, including a strong performance against Maryland in the NCAA tournament opening round.
Kelp and Umberto Picotto were teammates at UMBC last year, leading the Retrievers to eight wins. Kelp was an All-America East first-teamer, while Picotto notched a goal against Maryland earlier in the year.
Rose was one of the best Division II players last season at Charleston, earning All-American second-team honors from United Soccer Coaches.
Looking ahead
Maryland fell just outside of the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll for a second consecutive season but have chances to prove the voters wrong straight away.
With ranked road games against No. 6 Wake Forest on Thursday and No. 25 Georgetown on Monday opening the season, Maryland will not have any time to ease into the 2025 campaign. But that’s the way Cirovski likes it.
“I think you learn a lot from playing the best teams,” Cirovski said. “Our best years have always started when we’ve opened up with a couple of really hard games.”
Maryland also hosts No. 7 Pittsburgh in the nonconference slate before a Big Ten road clash with No. 3 Ohio State. They return home a week later to play No. 11 Indiana.
The Terps feel they have unfinished business after a disappointing end to 2024. That’s why Koehl opted to return instead of going to the MLS.
“We just want to win something this year because last year hurt us very bad,” Koehl said. “We were at a good spot. … We’re pretty confident we got a special team this year, and we have to achieve something.”
