COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland freshman midfielder Scott Buete is a fast learner on the soccer field and he's quickly becoming one of the bigger surprises of the young season for the eighth-ranked Terrapins.
Buete arrived on campus less than five weeks ago from nearby Bowie High and last night he followed coach Sasho Cirovski's instructions perfectly to give the Terps a 1-0 victory over 14th-ranked Virginia before an overflow crowd of 2,034 at Ludwig Field.
Buete scored the only goal in the Atlantic Coast Conference season opener for both teams, when he tapped in a shot from seven yards off a cross from freshman teammate A.J. Herrera with 4 minutes, 38 seconds gone in the second half.
"Coach [Sasho Cirovski] stresses following up crosses all the time and that's what I was doing when the ball came right to me," said Buete. "I didn't know if it was a shot or cross, but I was there anyway to tap it in left-footed. It's the best feeling I've had since I've been here. There was so much talk about this game and everybody was saying we had to win."
Maryland (3-1, 1-0) had not beaten Virginia (2-2, 0-1) in a regular-season game at College Park since 1977.
That's what made it a special night for Buete and everybody else surrounding the Terps.
Cirovski said: "I tell all my players to frame the goal on crosses and that's exactly what Scott did. It was a great feeling to see him and Christian Lewis [junior goalkeeper from Centennial High in Columbia] have super games. They are the two Marylanders on our team and that makes it special."
Lewis had five saves last night, all of them of the near-spectacular variety as he covered a lot of ground. Three came in the second half when he held off a frantic Virginia comeback with some pretty diving saves.
For Buete, it has been a fast ride into a tie with sophomore forward Taylor Twellman and Herrera for the team scoring lead (two goals and one assist for five points). Twellman is a candidate for the 1999 Hermann Trophy which recognizes the top collegiate soccer player in the nation.
Goal: Buete. Assists: Herrera, Cropley. Saves: V--Singer 2; M--Lewis 5. Shots: V--11; M--12. Half: 0-0.
Western Maryland 2, Wesley 1: Sophomore defender Pat Danaher scored his first collegiate goal six minutes into overtime to give the Green Terror (3-1) the Wesley Invitational title with a win over the host Wolverines (3-3).
Western Maryland sophomore Vinny Pedalino earned the tournament MVP award after assisting on Ryan Tetteris' goal with 14: 04 left in regulation. Pedalino and Tetteris each scored in Saturday's 2-0 semifinal win over Marymount.
Pub Date: 9/13/99