July 22, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland women's soccer team is ranked No. 23 in the NSCAA Preseason coaches poll released on July 19. Maryland faces perhaps the nation's most difficult schedule, as the Terps battle 10 teams ranked in the preseason top 25.
1999 ACC Coach of the Year Shannon Higgins-Cirovski leads Maryland against No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Santa Clara, No. 4 Penn State, No. 6 Clemson, No. 7t Stanford, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 13 William & Mary, No. 16 Virginia, No. 22 Duke and No. 25 James Madison.
North Carolina, Santa Clara and Penn State made up three-fourths of the 1999 Women's College Cup semifinals.
Maryland's first game against a ranked team will come in its second game of the season -- its home opener -- on Aug. 29, as No. 4 Penn State travels to College Park. The Terps battled the Nittany Lions to the end before being eliminated in the second round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament in State College, Pa.
Maryland follows the Penn State game with its first ACC matchup, a Sept. 1 meeting with No. 22 Duke in College Park.
The Terps face No. 3 Santa Clara and No. 7 Stanford at the NIKE/Stanford Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. in mid-September.
Pre-Season National Ranking -- 7/19/00
No. School Record Points Final 1999 Rank
1 North Carolina 24-2-0 300 3
2 Notre Dame 21-4-1 288 6
3 Santa Clara 23-1-0 276 1
4 Penn State 21-4-1 264 5
5 Nebraska 22-1-2 252 4
6 Clemson 14-6-2 240 8
7t Stanford 15-5-1 222 7
7t Hartford 18-5-2 222 RV
9 Connecticut 17-7-0 204 13
10 Florida 21-2-0 192 2
11 Texas A&M 17-5-1 180 10
12 Wake Forest 16-7-0 168 15
13 William & Mary 19-4-0 156 12
14 UCLA 15-5-1 144 20
15 So. Methodist 17-6-1 132 19
16 Virginia 13-9-0 120 16
17t So. California 14-6-0 102 11
17t Harvard 14-2-1 102 9
19 Kentucky 16-3-2 84 14
20 Brigham Young 21-4-0 72 23
21 Michigan 17-6-1 60 18
22 Duke 13-10-0 48 21
23 Maryland 11-10-1 36 25
24 San Diego 16-5-0 24 17
25 James Madison 14-7-1 12 NR
Also Receiving Votes:
Dartmouth, Minnesota, San Diego State, Marquette, Missouri, Baylor
