A Rivalry Renewed

So yeah, I have been sitting here for about a week now, trying to think of a better title then “Men’s Soccer Blog” for this blog. After much deliberation, I have come up with “Gsuss Talks”, the name of my old newspaper column back in high school. Now, while seemingly simple “Gsuss Talks” really is creative, as it is a take off of the brilliant Kanye West song, “Jesus Walks”. Jesus and Gsuss…it works right! Then you have talks and walks and really it all just makes sense. So now and forever, this blog will be known as Gsuss Talks!

Now that all of the administrative stuff is out of the way, you come here to hear about soccer not so much about a title. I began writing this blog up before the BC game, but with natural procrastination and other things in my busy schedule taking up my time, I have wound up writing it after two days of reflection.

Boston College came into College Park and YOUR Terps, absolutely showed that they are a force to be reckoned with this season. For most of the game, they dominated the playing field. Graham Zusi scored the only goal, but Maryland had many chances against a very solid Eagles team tonight. Boston College has beaten the snot out of Maryland the last couple of times they have played, so for Maryland to put one on the board early against BC (11th minute) was definitely a momentum builder. After Zusi scored, the rest of the team really did their jobs. Jeremy Hall and Casey Townsend each had phenomenal games and the Terps came away knowing that with a performance like this, they really could beat anyone.

I think it is very telling that Will Swaim was in goal for this one. Swaim had a miraculous save on Mike Konicoff in the second half and may have solidified his spot as Maryland’s official “starter”. I am a bit surprised with this decision from Sasho (who picked up his 217th win in the affair tying him with Doyle Royal for most in school history), as I thought Zac MacMath had done enough to wrestle the job away from Swaim. However, Swaim has certainly earned his chance to be the starter and I have no doubts it will be Will the Thrill in goal against the Blue Devils this Friday night. If its MacMath all normal logic goes out the window, but is that really a surprise when Sasho Cirovski is coaching your club?

Couple notes I want to mention about the Davidson game I broadcasted last weekend. Casey Townsend and Matt Kassel are GOOD and I mean really good. Townsend is lightening quick and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball and Kassel is ridiculously solid in the midfield. He is on target with seemingly every one of his kicks and his corner kick directly to Rodney Wallace’s head was just on the money. I’m not sure how long both of these men will stay in the program, but with them on the field this team is something to watch. I said it last week, I’m saying it again this is a team that can do some amazing things this season with the mix of the young guns and the veteran power.

As I said, coming up this Friday night the Duke Blue Devils return to College Park. Duke surprisingly is not as good as we have come accustomed to in recent years, but any Duke/Maryland game is a sight to be had. The Crew will be insane, the atmosphere off the charts, and I’m sure the game will live up to all Duke/Maryland hype.

I guess with Duke coming up, this is a good time to tell a story from my Crew days. So my freshman year, 2006, Duke came into town and of course “The Crew” did their research. They had acquired Duke goalkeeper and favorite target Justin Papadakis’s cell phone number. So along with the facebook information they had acquired about his girlfriend, favorite movies and music, they also now had his phone number. Now, being the shy person I am I hesitated for .000000000000001 seconds before calling it and, for the purpose that this is a family blog, ripped him apart. So Justin, as a complete unbiased member of the media right now, I’m sorry about that one. Want to come to College Park, I’ll buy you a drink? Yeah, I guess that won’t work because you have no interest in coming here and I’m not 21 yet (5 months!) Well hopefully we can put all that behind us, right Justin!?

So Duke vs. Maryland, Ludwig Field, 8:00 under the lights! Will the rivalry live up to all of the hype? Will the young guns continue to provide the spark that this team seems to thrive on? Will Justin Papadakis show up and heckle me from the stands?

Until next time…That’s a Rap!

~Sussman