Maryland Wins National Championship.
Cirovski entered a post-game press conference on Dec. 11 carrying the championship trophy awarded to the winner of the 2005 NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament.
After falling short in the three previous national semifinals, the top-seeded Terrapins are the kingpins of their sport after beating second-seeded New Mexico 1-0 in the nationally televised NCAA final before 6,922 spectators at SAS Stadium.
“I said (a day before the final) that if we won I would have a warm, fuzzy feeling,” Cirovski said. “Now, I will feel pretty good for the next nine months.
“I want to share this with all (the past and current) players. I know some of them had tears of sorrow and now they have tears of joy.”
The Terrapins (19-4-2) competed a five-game NCAA sweep.including a dominating 4-1 victory over Southern Methodist in the semifinals, to win the ACC’s 10th national championship in the last 21 years.
“I think we are the best team in the nation and we proved that,” said Maryland senior Jason Garey, who was named the College Cup’s most outstanding offensive player. “We play attractive soccer. It is fun to play, fun to watch.
“To be with my friends and to win (the NCAA title), I wouldn’t give that up to play for Manchester United.”
Marc Burch, who played his first three college seasons at Evansville before joining the Terrapins, scored the biggest goal of his life at 30:33.
“It is exactly what I wanted to do. … I don’t know if I will play again,” Burch said. “When we wake up tomorrow, we can say we are the national champions. It is amazing. We made it happen.
“Now, we will be on (ESPN’s) Sports Center and meet the President.”
After a New Mexico foul, Burch lined up on the left side and blasted a left-footed 25-yard free-kick grounder, which deflected off a Lobo defender. Goalkeeper Mike Graczyk was moving to his left when the ball was redirected. He dove back to his right but the ball cleanly went inside the near post.
“I was just rying to get the ball on the frame with a lot of power behind it,” said Burch of his fourth goal in his 20 games this season.
New Mexico, the more physical team, was outshot 19-11, and Maryland led 10-5 in corner kicks. The Lobos (18-2-3) were limited to three shots on goal.
“I think luck was more on their side,” said New Mexico’s leading scorer, Jeff Rowland. “They scored on a freaking deflection. They didn’t dominate us. We could have won the game.”
In clear, cold and windy weather, New Mexico was shut out for only the second time this season.
“It was an unfortunate goal,” said coach Jeremy Fishbein, describing Burch’s game winner. “Sometimes in a big game like that, against a quality team, the bounce on the ball didn’t go our way.”
For the first time since 1992, a freshman goalkeeper started for the national champion, and Chris Seitz was named the College Cup’s most outstanding defensive player.
Seitz, a native of California who watched the Terrapins lose to Indiana in the 2004 College Cup semifinals near Los Angeles, made a key play in the fifth minute of the second half.
He alertly blocked a penalty kick by New Mexico’s Andrew Boyens, who scored the game-winning goal on Dec. 9 when the Lobos eliminated Clemson 2-1 in the semis.
“Chris made a split-second decision and came up with a big save,” Cirovski. “It is deflating (for New Mexico). When a goalkeeper makes a save like that, the other team begins to feel today is not our day.
“Chris is special. He can make big plays in big games. We are lucky to have him.”
Seitz said he had a definite idea of what to expect when Boyens lined up and kicked a low drive to the goalkeeper’s left. Seitz made a clean save and then Boyens mishit the rebound.
“You have the weight of the team on your shoulders. … It is horrible,” Boyens said.
Cirovski, with the NCAA trophy perched in front of him, also told more than 40 people at the post-game press conference about his “good luck charms.”
Before he left home to travel to Cary, his three daughters — ages 11, 9 and 3 — each wrote him a note predicting success for the Terrapins. The 2005 ACC coach of the year said he carried the notes in his pocket during the Final Four.
Cirovski, who was instrumental in working to create a televised Game of the Week this season, said he hopes the NCAA title will also help him achieve another dream — a new soccer stadium on the Maryland campus in College Park.
The Terrapins, who lost only once in their last 17 games, played 14 ranked opponents this season and scored an ACC-high 65 goals.
Garey, who appears the favorite to win the Hermann Trophy, scored a NCAA-best 22 goals this season. Garey, who’s from Louisiana, finished as the leading scorer in Maryland history with 60 goals.
The four-year Maryland seniors built a combined 76-18-5 record, Including 12-2-3 in the NCAA Tournament.