Under The Shell: Sasho Cirovski

Ahmed Ghafir
31 minutes ago
4 min read

On the latest episode of Under The Shell, Maryland men's soccer head coach Sasho Cirovski talks about his team's hot start and 11-game unbeaten streak.

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Q: Where does this group stack up with some other teams in recent history?

A: “We’re just over the midway point of the season and I really like our team a lot. I think we have a good balance all over the field, but most importantly, this is the deepest team that we've had probably since the 2018 team that won a national title.”

“Ever since the college sports world has changed, we were not able to have as deep a team as we typically have. And though we had really good teams every one of those years, with the exception of the 2023 season, where we were just devastated by injuries, at the end of the year, when we needed to really be at our best, we were always minus two, three, four, five key players.

“We're just going into games like a Yankee Doodle Dandy where we're on crutches and carrying each other. But this year is different. This year I really like the team a lot. The culture, the chemistry, the balance all over the field is very good.”

Q: Are you surprised you’re only ranked 15th?

A: I think it's interesting. I think the rankings get a little bit better the more games you get under it, just like the RPI. And I think things are sort of starting to stabilize a little bit more. Because a lot of it is just coaches' opinions. And to be honest with you, some of the coaches in our association don't do a very good job of researching or digging deep into exactly what's happening. So I think the RPIs are better indicators than the rankings at this point. But yeah, I want to be ranked number one at the end of the year.”

Q: In 1993, why did you come to a struggling Maryland program and have the confidence to declare the team national champion programs?

A: This was a sleeping giant. The ACC was the best conference in college soccer at the time. Maryland is an incredible location, and was a really good school. And I really felt like there's no reason why we can't be beating the Virginias, Indianas, Clemsons, Dukes, all those schools. I declared in our first meeting with our players, we're here to win the national championship,

pretty soon they were no longer on the team. And we changed the culture. We brought in highly competitive players that wanted to be part of the bricks and mortar of building the program. And my second year, we brought two top five recruits in the country onto the team. My fourth year, we brought four top 10 recruits onto the team. And in 94 and 95, we got to the sweet 16.

We had the biggest turnaround from 93 to 94 in ACC men's soccer history from three and 14 to 14 and six. So we announced ourselves. But the big one was 1996 when we went down to Virginia and won the ACC title in my fourth year when Maryland was insignificant. And then before you know it, the national team kids are calling us, "hey, how can I be part of this?”

Q: Do you want to remain with Maryland in an administrative role after you retire?

A: “Yeah, I definitely want to stay connected to the soccer program, minimally to the athletic department for sure, and hopefully to the university at large, because I think that this is a part of my life. I spent well over half my life at this university and I definitely want to be some sort of ambassador or consultant or special assistant. So yeah, I see a future where I'm involved, but I'm not sure how that might look at the point that I retire.”

Q: Do you have a timeline for when you will retire?

A: “No I do not. I have goals I haven't accomplished. So we're going to keep going on right now. I’ve worked really hard over my last 12 years to elevate college soccer into another level, to move into the split season with the spring championship and to really grow the sport. So I want to be here until I finish that job and we get college soccer playing and practice season, you know, amended into the academic year. Number two, I want to put a shovel in the ground for a real soccer stadium that I felt that we deserve, that we should have, that we do not have. And three, I want to bring one more star to the front of our chest. I want to bring one more trophy, a big one, back home. Those are the three things driving me. So I'm working every day to get all of those three things done.

Q: Out of all the national title runs and the college cup runs that you've had, is there a specific moment that stands out to you so far throughout your career?

A: I think the first one was unbelievably special. You know, this year at the Indiana game on October 24th, we're going to bring the guys back from the 2005 National Championship team. We should have well over half, maybe three quarters of the players and their families come back to celebrate them. I think the way that one happened was just incredible. We had gone to the college cup in 02, 03, 04, only to have our hearts broken in really harsh semi-final losses. In every game, we were either equal or the better team, and we didn't come out on top. So in 05, when that group of seniors were able to finish the job and win the title, that was the only title where I had tears of joy.”

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