Perhaps it’s fitting that senior defender Jeff Quijano scored the goal to put the Michigan men's soccer team on the board against Maryland on Saturday in the NCAA quarterfinals. The game, after all, seemed to parallel Quijano’s season — a journey from disappointment to determination to triumph.

It was a game filled with almost as many ups and downs as Quijano experienced this season.

In his first three seasons with the Wolverines (17-4-3), Quijano totaled 31 starts and saw the field in nine other games. He expected to play a major role in his final season with the team.

“(Quijano) came in as a senior (and) thought he was going to be a big-time starter for us,” Michigan coach Steve Burns said after the game on Saturday.

But this summer, while playing alongside senior goalkeeper Chris Blais in a player-development league in Seattle, Quijano suffered a setback when he sustained a freak injury to the iliotibial band in his knee.

“It was the weirdest thing,” Quijano said during a press conference on Monday. “I was sitting down one day, I stood up, I felt a little cringe in my knee, and from then on it put me out for about a month and a half.”

Entering the season, Quijano was healthy enough to start the team’s first two games. But poor play and a strong push from freshman defender Ezekiel Harris relegated Quijano to an unfamiliar position: the bench.

Initially, he wasn’t too receptive to the change. But with time he grew into his new role.

“At first, I really didn’t embrace Orange Crush — kind of a pride thing,” Quijano said, referring to the nickname given to the reserve players because of the orange vests they wear. “But I realized … the team is bigger than I am, so I became a big Crush leader, and a die-hard Crush.”

Added Burns: “It takes a lot of character to be able to deal with that kind of environment and that type of reality that has faced. It would have been very easy for him just to have drifted off and kind of gotten upset and just acquiesced and dropped away from the team.”

But Quijano didn’t. And as he began to accept his new role, Quijano started to think of ways to lead the team from the sidelines. During the Wolverines’ nine-game win streak that ultimately propelled them into the NCAA semifinals, Quijano began a new team tradition — he starts each match in the middle of the team huddle yelling, heightening the pre-game hype.

According to Quijano, his new role also helped him on the field. And the coaches took notice. Before Michigan’s game against Northwestern on Nov. 6, Burns spoke privately with Quijano, letting the defender know that he was getting the start.

Since then, Quijano has been one of the team’s most important contributors, giving the Wolverines an infusion of energy and hustle every game. Of course, the goal against Maryland and the subsequent National Team of the Week honors were pretty important, too.

Senior midfielder Alex Wood, who has lived with Quijano for three years and has even had him over for Thanksgiving Dinner multiple times, described what Quijano means to the team.

“He’s an emotional leader, but he’s also led by example through these nine (straight wins),” Wood said on Monday. “He’s been out there fighting. If you watch the game, the right side is on fire right now, and Jeff’s the main reason for that.”

Quijano returns to his home state of California for the team's NCAA semifinal matchup against No. 2 Akron in Santa Barbara on Friday night.

He will need to stay hot if the team hopes to contend with the Zips, who handed the Wolverines their last loss on Oct. 19, 7-1.

“It’s a new team compared to then and now and it’s a team that I think is ready to play Akron,” Quijano said. “We’ve definitely come a long ways since playing them.”

So, too, has Quijano.