Second-ranked teams don’t always get the opportunity to knock off the nation’s No. 1, but the North Carolina men’s soccer team will get just that chance at 6 p.m. tonight in College Park as it takes on Maryland with the ACC lead on the line.
The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Maryland (12-0-1, 5-0) has coasted through its schedule, winning every game aside from a scoreless draw against UCLA on Aug. 31.
But UNC has remained within reach, led by a stingy defense that has not allowed a goal in the last 393 minutes of play, dating back to the team’s Sept. 28 game against Duke.
The Tar Heels have allowed only three goals in their first 13 games, the fewest allowed in all of NCAA Division I.
They will be tested by a Maryland attack, which, through games played last Sunday, was tied for the NCAA Division I lead in goals scored average at 2.92. The team’s average has since dropped to 2.85.
UNC has struggled to generate scoring this season but has benefitted from the return of junior forward Rob Lovejoy, who recorded a hat trick last game against College of Charleston in his first game back after offseason hip surgery.
Maryland leads the all-time series by a 20-game margin and has beaten the Tar Heels the last five times the teams have played in College Park.
Last season, the teams played to a 1-1 draw in Chapel Hill.
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