Maryland men’s soccer’s global roster is powering its best season in years

The landscape of college soccer looks drastically different from when Sasho Cirovski took over Maryland men’s soccer back in 1993.

Cirovski’s recruiting approach in recent years has reflected that. While the veteran head coach still draws in some of the top homegrown players — the Terps have 10 in-state players on their current roster — he has made it a point of emphasis to locate talent from overseas.

It’s been evident in recent years.

The Terps had just one international player on their roster back in 2006 — Canadian goalkeeper Aaron Chinn, who never made his collegiate debut. This season, Cirovski has his highest total of foreign players across his 33-year tenure.

Eight of the Terps’ starting 11 hail from outside of America.

But that mirrors the recruiting trends across Division I. The 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament field feature an average of 10.4 international players. Marshall, who was last season’s national runner-up, leads the charge with 26 players from overseas.

While Maryland doesn’t have that same extreme total, its 13 international players lead the Big Ten. Nearly half of the Terps’ 30-man roster grew up outside the United States. Penn State is the next closest team with 11, despite having the smallest squad in the conference.

Maryland’s 43.3 percent international roster would rank third in the ACC, behind Clemson and Syracuse — unseeded teams in the NCAA Tournament this season.

Overseas players bring more than just a differing style of soccer. Most international recruits enter college with loads of professional or high-level experience.

Farouk Cisse is a prime example. The 21-year old is in his first year playing in America, but he is far from your typical freshman. Cisse spent four seasons part of Borussia Dortmund’s youth academy before spending a year training with a first-division Italian team.

His path to the States isn’t uncommon for international players, a leading reason behind the drastic spike in non-American players throughout college soccer.

While there is typically a four-year age gap between freshman and seniors — resulting in most underclassmen barely touching the field — international players are oftentimes more veteran, setting them up for immediate success.

“I think the overall quality has improved a lot because what you’re getting is an older and more experienced player coming in, having a more immediate impact right away,” Cirovski said. “Now, players who have had some professional experience are able to play in college.”

It’s shown in this year’s freshman class.

Cirovski brought in eight young players as part of his effort to add more depth to the roster. Four of those freshmen are not U.S. talents: Cisse, Mateo Caride, Alexander Milosevic and Emil Nymann Anderson.

While the latter are redshirting this season, Cisse and Caride have logged a combined 1,107 minutes — mostly due to Cisse’s freshman-leading 852 minutes on the pitch.

While half of the Terps’ backline — a unit that has been exceptional all season outside of conceding five goals over the final two regular season games — is from the U.S., Maryland’s goalscoring production stems from a pair of international phenoms.

Ugandan Sadam Masereka and Frenchman Stephane Njike are the Terps’ top goalscorers, netting 16 combined scores this season. Germans Leon Koehl has also contributed three goals from the spot, adding to the Terps’ total of 59 percent of their goals scored by international players.

Fellow Germans Lasse Kelp and Laurin Mack are also key contributors, playing every minute on the pitch this season. Kelp was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Mack was selected as the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year.

Overall, Maryland’s international players have combined for 11,857 of the team’s 18,040 minutes played.

That staggering total number of minutes comes from a diverse background. The Terps’ 13 international players span four continents and cover eight different countries. Denmark, Italy and Uganda are just a few examples of Maryland’s representation.

Caride is the Terps’ first player from Argentina since Diego Silva in 2016. While the freshman hasn’t played significant minutes this season, Caride still has a goal to his name.

But Maryland’s biggest recruiting pipeline is with Germany. The Terps have always had a strong German presence on the squad, and this season is no different. Kelp, Cisse, Mack, Koehl and Chris Steinleitner are part of Maryland’s team-high five players born in Germany.

That was part of the reason Kelp transferred in from UMBC this past year. Despite joining a new program, his instant familiarity with his new teammates helped ease the transition.

“I knew Leon from home. He lives like 20 minutes away from me,” Kelp said. “Even the new player, Farouk, who just joined our squad was actually a childhood friend of mine.”

While international players are becoming more popular in college soccer, Cirovski’s background certainly helps. Born in Macedonia, he opted to play college soccer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee instead of signing a contract with a Scottish team. That choice helps him relate to his overseas players.

More specifically, Cirovski is experienced at helping players adjust to a new life.

“I’m an international player, and I’ve had to navigate my way through college,” Cirovski said. “I have an idea of what they’re experiencing being far away from their families, and they just need some support. Sometimes they need more patience because the game is different.”