Midfielder Alex Shinsky pulls the ball away from a UC-Irvine defender during the Terps 1-0 victory over UC Irvine Anteaters in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Dec 1, 2013 at Ludwig Field.
Three years ago, Alex Shinsky scored 17 goals in 22 games during his senior season at West York Area High School in York, Pa.
But before Saturday, the Terrapins men’s soccer midfielder had yet to find the back of the net in 43 college appearances.
That drought came to an end at California, though. In the 33rd minute, defender Mikey Ambrose curled a free kick from a few feet outside the left edge of the 18-yard box to the far post. Shinsky, who had replaced midfielder Michael Sauers six minutes earlier, made a hard run onto the cross and bounced a header into the top netting of the goal.
The goal broke a scoreless tie in the No. 5-seed Terps’ eventual 2-1 win over No. 4-seed California in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, which sent the Terps back to the College Cup for the second straight season, where they’ll face No. 8-seed Virginia on Friday night in Chester, Pa.
“It feels great, especially being my first collegiate goal, to get such a big one,” Shinsky said.
Injuries have marred Shinsky’s 2013 campaign, as they have for the majority of the junior’s career with the Terps. After starting at center midfield for the first two games of this season and coming off the bench in a home victory over Duke, Shinsky pulled his hamstring against Virginia Commonwealth on Sept. 8.
The midfielder missed the next three games before returning to action against Pittsburgh on Sept. 27. Fifteen seconds after he entered the game, though, his head collided with a Panthers defender. He would need stitches and missed the rest of the contest. Shinsky came back four days later but reinjured his hamstring, forcing him to miss another seven games.
He returned for a 2-1 win over N.C. State on Nov. 1 and has remained injury-free for the rest of the year, including the postseason, tallying an assist in addition to his goal in the past eight games.
“My teammates have really supported me,” Shinsky said. “I’ve had a rough year with injuries, and pretty much my career here has been pretty rough with injures. So it’s been a good feeling to have that support from my teammates along the way. I’ve always had confidence that I’d be able to get back.”
During the Terps’ NCAA tournament run, Shinsky has emerged as a viable and consistent option off the bench in the Terps’ deep midfield rotation. However, the midfielder’s health continues to prevent him from playing extended minutes.
That hasn’t stopped him from making an impact, though. As a pesky defender with a nose for the ball and tremendous speed, Shinsky can wreak havoc on opponents’ midfielders during small stretches.
“I’m a team-first player,” Shinsky said. “I come in and I really try and do whatever I can to provide a spark for the team. And that’s the role I’m in now, so I really try and just provide the spark that we need, whether that be 10, 15 minutes, I just try and do my best and help the team out.”
Shinsky certainly delivered that extra boost Saturday in 40 minutes of play, the most playing time of any Terps substitute.
“He had a great game overall, besides the goal,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “His touch was very good. He competed extremely hard. He unbalanced them in the attack. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have his full fitness because of just being out for a while. But he’s a special young man.”
Cirovski said Shinsky is his “No. 1” recruiter when he brings potential Terps to the campus for visits. He’s not the leading goal-scorer on the team, nor is he the most talented player, but Cirovski said he has unwavering dedication to the program and a strong bond with his teammates — something the coach desires from every Terp.
“Everybody on the team loves Shinsky because of all of the adversity to injuries he’s had to deal with,” Cirovski said. “So for him to get a big goal in a big game, it proves that if you stick to it, if you keep working hard, good things will happen.”
