Maryland men’s soccer releases 2019 schedule

Maryland men’s soccer released its 2019 schedule Wednesday afternoon, which will be another challenging slate as the Terps look to defend their national title.

Sasho Cirovski’s squad will face seven NCAA Tournament teams from last year, including the three other College Cup participants: Akron, Indiana and Michigan State. Maryland will also play former ACC rival Virginia at Audi Field again on Labor Day, Sept. 2, and at Talen Energy Stadium, the home of the Philadelphia Union, against Villanova on Sept. 16.

The Terps will open their regular season Aug. 30 at Ludwig Field against South Florida before starting a tough three-game stretch. After playing Virginia, Maryland will travel to the West Coast to play UCLA on Sept. 6, then welcome Akron to College Park for a College Cup Final rematch one week later. Other nonconference matches include home dates against St. John’s, Yale and Cal State Fullerton and a short road trip to Georgetown.

The Big Ten schedule is flipped from last year, which means Maryland will host Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana and Michigan and travel to Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State.

The Terps lose a lot from last year’s national championship team, but have another schedule that will get them prepared for postseason play. Maryland played 10 NCAA Tournament teams last year, and after an uninspiring 4-5-3 start, went on a 9-1-1 tear that ended with the program’s fourth national title.