Men's Soccer Preview – 10/05/2010

Pete Volk

Editor

The Maryland men’s soccer team has faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, and they get another doozy of a matchup tonight when the Connecticut Huskies come to College Park.

Maryland stands at 5-2-1 now, ranked sixth in the country by the latest NSCAA poll. They have been lead on offense by midfielder Matt Kassel (four goals, four assists) and forwards Jason Herrick (three goals, one assist) and Casey Townsend (three goals). The Terps are outscoring opponents 20-8 this year, and have received four shutouts from All-American goalie Zac MacMath. On the back line, Ethan White and Taylor Kemp are stars in the making, and Alex Lee played his best game of the year last Friday against Duke. Maryland also has a great group of freshmen coming off the bench, lead by Sunny Jane, Patrick Mullins, and Helge Leikvang.

Undefeated UConn, ranked No.2 in the country, are outscoring their opponents by an incredible 26-3 margin this year. They have received at least five goals from Tony Cascio, Mamadou Diof (in only five games!), and Stephane Diop. Carlos Alvarez has nine assists on the year. Starting goalie Josh Ford has five shutouts in nine games. These Huskies are really, really good, and it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski makes for tonight.

Terp Record: 5-2-1 (2-1-1)

Opponent: Connecticut Huskies (Big East) 7-0-2 (1-0-1)

Location: College Park, MD

Time: 7:30 PM ET

Coverage: Ludwig Field, Wmucsports.com

Prediction: 2-1, UConn. The Huskies’ scoring attack is too good, even for Maryland’s defense.

So what do you think? Will Maryland pull out a win against the No.2 team in the nation?

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