Under the Shell: Maryland women's soccer head coach Michael Marchiano + Malik Washington's standout start

Ahmed Ghafir
Sep 3, 2025
5 min read

Maryland women’s soccer has been one of the nation’s worst programs over the past two decades. Last season, it went scoreless in nine of its 11 Big Ten games. But new head coach Michael Marchinao is embracing the program’s history and is trying to change the Terps’ culture. Under the Shell interviewed the new coach, who was a two-time captain for the Maryland men’s soccer team and was a member of both the 2005 and 2008 national championship teams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4tIhgdpFCs

Q: How can Maryland establish itself as a program with all the recent struggles?

A: Yeah, so I think if we look back, I mentioned the two words, consistency and stability. I think our program needs that in terms of the student athletes that we're bringing in and sort of the amount of time that they're spending here and building the everyday environment. But at the end of the day, we need to increase the talent on our team, there's no doubt. I mean, when you're talking about Big Ten women's soccer, you're talking about some of the best in the country, right? So we need to increase the talent that we have in our program. We need to increase the overall athleticism of our team. And then we need players who are prepared to work really, really, really, really hard and in the same direction. And I think that over recent years, there's been some teams and some players who have the talent to play at this level, but perhaps the group wasn't aligned and working in the same direction. So we need a lot of things to bridge that gap and to perform at a high level. And I'm not sure our expectation is that we are ready to bridge that gap this season. I can't lie, it's gonna take us some time, but we need to lay the foundation and do the very basic things, like I said, in terms of how we compete and how we are together and how we're organized as a team. But it's a massive challenge. And yet it's one that we're really looking forward to. And I think it's one that we're going to be able to conquer here in the coming years.

Q: What was it like being a part of the goalless streak last year?

A: It's miserable. I don't have any stories that come to mind. I think I had sort of just joined the program and my experience with Maryland soccer was the complete opposite of that, right? So it is an elephant in the room, I think it's an energy and a negative energy that the players and the staff and everybody around it carried with it. I think that the reason why it all happened is because the focus was probably in the wrong places and we were just not getting the basics right. And I think you guys all, I don't know if you have backgrounds in soccer and how much you follow it, but like anything can happen in a soccer game, right? And it may be the sport where the biggest upsets can happen. And so it was a really bad experience for everyone involved and we're all responsible for it getting to that place. But I think for me, I didn't feel attached to this losing streak or this lack of goal streak because I was new to women's soccer. I was new to Big Ten women's soccer. And even in the short time that I was a part of it, I hated it. But the thing I hated even more was being a part of a team that wasn't together and that wasn't pulling in the same direction.

Q: What was your discussions like with Damon Evans before you were hired?

A: I don't know if I've ever told anybody this publicly, but when I met with Damon and I presented to him, the title of my presentation was called Project 2028 Back to Basics. And so I think we sort of collectively created a timeline that we thought was sensible and respectable and there are benchmarks and to be honest with you Sam, I don't know if it's about like, let's win this many non-conference games and win this many conference games. I think right now it is about giving stability to the program. It's been a really difficult time. So if we're talking benchmarks, I think six months from now I can look back and say, in year one, we gave our student athletes some stability.

Q: How can Maryland compete in the loaded Big Ten?

A: Yeah, we're going to face a lot of really, really talented teams as we approach these Big Ten games. So my hope is that we can learn from it and make sure that at a minimum, at a minimum, when we go into these Big Ten games, we have the energy and the competitiveness and the togetherness as a team to make sure that we have a firm footing defensively and allow ourselves a chance to grow in the game.

Q: How did you manage to keep last year’s team afloat after you stepped into an interim coaching role following former coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer’s firing?

A: I think we just try to be respectful and caring. And we try to, with all of these distractions and all of these adversities that we're going on, just bring it back to basics. And go to training with a smile on your face because we all love soccer, because we all love what we're doing. And me and the staff, we're going to try to hold them accountable to working really hard and to trying to be good teammates. And so I think we just tried to get back to basics and in a way alleviate some pressure that had been building and all this negativity. And it's like, listen, at that point, guys, at that point, the program hadn't scored a goal in the Big Ten in a long time. And I had never been in a situation like that. And we just tried to be like, alright, let's focus on scoring a goal, right? In addition to showing up to training and smiling and working hard, like let's try to score a goal, something that hasn't been done here in a while, which is a little bit embarrassing to say, if I'm being honest. I think the girls were great and we had a handful of seniors who wanted to leave with some positivity and we were able to do that. I think the team last year, relatively speaking, was in an okay place from a talent standpoint. And so we got back to basics and we were able to do some things all right and find some enjoyment and find some positive results and some goals. And that was cool.

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