Sasho Cirovski talks big win over No. 7 Louisville, preparations for No. 2 UCLA

ACC Own The Pitch spoke with Maryland Head Coach Sasho Cirovski on Monday afternoon. The ninth-ranked Terps dominated No. 7 Louisville 3-0 on Sunday night, and face No. 2 UCLA on Friday at home in their next match.

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Coach Cirovski on the win over No. 7 Louisville: “The scoreline was a little flattering for us, but we played very well and earned the victory. Louisville is a very good team and I thought we did a nice job defensively and our finishing was exquisite.”

Schillo Tshuma, Dan Metzger and John Stertzer all found the back of the net for Maryland on Sunday night. Coach Cirovski on the balanced attack: “The strength of our team is that you can’t just shut this guy or that guy down, and shut Maryland down. We can come at you in so many different ways so it was nice to see that we had some outstanding players that didn’t get in the scoring last night, but will.”

On facing two top 10 teams in non conference play: “It’s the best way to prepare your team to see where your weaknesses are so you can correct them, and it also helps you harden your team as you get ready for conference play. It also helps with recruiting because that’s what kids want to do. They want to play against big teams in big games and we do that annually.”

On contending for a title: “I feel like we’re in contention every year at Maryland. I do feel like this team has the hunger and the hurt necessary to prevail in tough times. I think this is a highly motivated group with a chip on their shoulder.”

On preparing for UCLA: “We’re going through our usual preparations for UCLA but we know that they’re a team that was in the College Cup last year and is one of the top teams in the country every year. They’re one of the most powerful teams in the country. All you’ve got to do is put UCLA on the board and your team gets excited for a fantastic night.”