by Brian Abate, Chris DiGeronimo, and Gianluca Milea
“Offense sells tickets. Defense wins championships.”-Bear Bryant
The University of Maryland has produced some of the United States’ best soccer players, including Graham Zusi and Omar Gonzalez, who have both played well for the United States Men's National Team. The Terps also won national championships in 1968, 2005 and 2008. While Maryland was repeatedly one of the best teams in the NCAA, following 2008 they could not capture yet another championship… that was until 2018. In 2018 the Terps won all five of their NCAA Tournament games without ever conceding a goal. On today’s edition of Scrambling we talk about Maryland’s incredible run with their star defender, Donovan Pines. He anchored the team’s defense and scored a clutch goal in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament against Indiana. Pines was a member of the 2016 Big Ten All-Freshman Team, 2017 All-Big Ten Second Team, 2018 All-Big Ten First Team, 2018 All-Big Ten First Team and a 2018 United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American. He now plays for D.C. United in the MLS.
Q: What was it like playing for legendary coach Sasho Cirovski Maryland?
A: It was a blessing playing for him. I really enjoyed playing under him because of his knowledge of the game and great attitude with his players and commitment to excellence on and off the field. He really helped me learn the game at a high level and always give it my 100 percent effort on and off the pitch. I had to ensure I brought a great mentality for training and in my classes because I was a firm believer in what you do in the classroom affects how you do on the field, academically and mentally.
Q: You helped Maryland shut down opponents during their 2018 NCAA Tournament. What was your mindset during the tournament?
A: During that time first I wanted to acknowledge the fact during that year that team became a band of brothers and we fought for each other no matter what. Also for the seniors I really wanted them to win a title because I respected every single one of the seniors plus I think they were going to be the first class that didn’t win a title. So I didn’t want that to be known for that class. So once we got to tournament time it was complete force and no mercy defensively. Our team figured out that we would defend the other team's best player at all cost and keep him out of the game. Then we would score one goal and go basically ultra defensive.
Q: What did it feel like to win the championship in 2018? Was it extra satisfying as a defender to win the tournament without allowing any goals?
A: Honestly I still can’t believe it. It was such a blessing to be coached by incredible coaching staff that year and be part of a band of brothers that I’m still close to today. Winning the championship was such a meaningful experience because I can finally say that I am a national champion. Also I was so happy that day because I finally hugged my dad and he said he was “very very proud of me”. I was so happy that it brought me to tears because of his words. Also my cousins surprised me and came out to support me so that was also a plus that day. Also it was satisfying to learn that during that whole entire tournament we didn’t let in any goals. This was honestly incredible. My team put their hearts on the line each game and sometimes during training pushing each other to be the best. And we trained so hard that we began understanding our roles and what each of us brought to the table when we stepped on the pitch. But being a defender I took it upon myself that no one must get by me easily and it will take a lot of effort for them to get by me and get a shot off. As a defensive backline and with an incredible defensive mid, Andrew Samuels, we could effectively frustrate teams and find ways to keep them out of the game while our strikers would go to work.
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