Terps’ sophomore forgoing final two seasons of eligibility

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College Park (Map, News) - After earning the Soccer America MVP and Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year awards, Chris Seitz has decided that his next best challenge cannot be met at College Park.

Seitz, the Terps’ sophomore goalkeeper, has decided to pursue professional opportunities and forgo his final two seasons of eligibility. After much thought, the opportunity at such a young age was too strong to pass up.

“Having to make the decision to go pro came much earlier than even I expected,” Seitz said in a team release. “However, the opportunities that were presented became increasingly intense. After 3 1/2 weeks of agonizing over my choices, I’ve decided that it was time to focus solely on soccer.”

Seitz’s decision comes on the heels of teammate Maurice Edu’s choice to do the same. Both have been honored with a bevy of postseason awards in recent weeks.

Terps coach Sasho Cirovski noted that Edu had drawn plenty of interest from European and Major League Soccer teams. He mentioned that both Terps have the potential to be stars for the U.S. national team.

“Chris Seitz is an enormous talent,” Cirovski said. “He had a great two years here and was a key figure in the tremendous success of the program in that time. Chris has a great presence in the goal, yet in spite of his success here, I feel his best is yet to come.”

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Seitz leaves College Park with a 28-5-3 record, including 16 shutouts. He owns the program’s best career goals-against average of 0.77.

“He has great leadership,” Cirovski said. “His distribution skills and ability to make big saves in key moments to help win games are uncanny.”

He helped the Terps to the NCAA title in his freshman season, becoming the first keeper to do so since 1990. In doing so, he earned the College Cup defensive MVP award.

“Maryland is by far the best soccer program in the country,” Seitz said. “My decision to come to Maryland was the best decision of my life so far.”

Now, he hopes leaving the university will be another great decision.

SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

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299 days ago: Foreign influence on Hokies’ first Final Four

314 days ago: Maryland to host streaking Greyhounds in NCAA second round

320 days ago: Loyola hosts Liberty Saturday in NCAA Division I Tournament

370 days ago: Young Gators provide bite

382 days ago: USF Dons drop another tough one

383 days ago: Young Dons eager to test their mettle

419 days ago: Pike, Bibbee exit posts

515 days ago: Victory out to win fans

596 days ago: Area programs building locally

602 days ago: Tigers add some international flavor