Ethan White is a Key Part for Terps

The UMD men's soccer team just finished up their regular season with 14 wins, only two losses and one tie in double overtime. Helping the Terps to this record was student-athlete and defender Ethan White.

White started his career with the UMD men's soccer team as a freshman in 2009 and has been getting better with every game, said Assistant Coach Brian Rowland.

"Ethan is a tremendous soccer player," said Rowland. "He's very fast, very strong and matches up well against a lot of other teams."

White is part of the Terps' defensive backline.

"They're all fierce competitors," coach Sasho Cirovski told The Diamondback in October. "They are valuing shutting teams down more and more every day," said Ciro-vski.

White is a sophomore criminology and criminal justice major and works hard to manage being both a student and a Division 1 athlete.

"It's really hard," he said. "The main thing [is] time management."

But all of the preparation and challenges may be well worth it in the end: White is working toward joining the world of professional soccer.

"I'm just trying to play as well as I can," said White, and he's looking forward to "whatever opportunity presents itself."

While playing at the University of Maryland, White said he has learned an important lesson from Cirovski and the other players: "to maintain focus and keep your eyes on your goal."

"If you want to go pro, make sure that you're doing things [to prepare yourself for it]," he added.

So far, White has been doing just that. Rowland said that White brings a confidence to the game that assures the other players that "a lot of things will get taken care of," but that there is even more room for growth.

Players "learn the organizational and leadership side of things as they mature a little bit, which is something that we see from [White]," said Rowland. "As he gets a little older and more comfortable, he'll be able to lead and be that kind of guy."

The Terps have finished their regular season and are preparing for the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship. The University of Maryland men's soccer regular season games are free for UMD students to attend.

The Terps went on to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels 1-0 Sunday, Nov. 14 to claim the 2010 ACC Men's Soccer Championship.