University of Maryland Athletics

April 22, 2003

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland women's soccer coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski has released the team's 2003 regular-season schedule. The Terps, who reached the second round of the NCAA Women's College Cup last season, will take on 11 teams that played in the College Cup. They will also face six teams that finished the 2002 season ranked in the NSCAA Top 25 -- including three from the top ten in No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Penn State and No. 10 Tennessee.

"I strongly believe this 2003 women's soccer team is going to be the best yet in my time here at Maryland," said Higgins-Cirovski. "We have an incredibly challenging schedule again. I am excited to be playing some of the best teams in the nation, as the only way to be the best is to play the best -- and that's what we are striving to do again."

Maryland will host two of the four teams that advanced to the NCAA College Cup Semifinals in North Carolina (Oct. 5, at 1 p.m.) and Penn State (Sept. 7 at 5:30 p.m.). The Terps will also face challenges from NCAA qualifiers and ACC foes Florida State (Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.), Clemson (Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. - Alumni Night), Virginia (Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.) and Wake Forest (Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.).

The Terps will open the season at the Husky Invitational hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle. The tournament which features games against host Washington on Aug. 29 and Washington State on Aug. 31, will be a homecoming for Higgins-Cirovski, who grew up in nearby Kent, Washington.

"It's going to be very exciting to have a chance to coach in front of my family, relatives and friends," the coach said. "I'm proud to show off this team to my hometown and feel they have the talent to do special things this season."

It will be the team's first trip to Washington and first to the west coast since the 2000 Stanford Nike Invitational.

Maryland will host its our tournament -- the Maryland Adidas Classic on Sept. 19 and 21 at Ludwig Field. The event features four NCAA Tournament teams from last season: Maryland, Loyola, Tennessee and William & Mary. The Terps will play the Greyhounds in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and take on the Volunteers for the first time in history on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2:30 p.m.

The ACC Tournament will be held at the SAS Stadium in Cary, N.C. from Nov. 6-9, as will the 2003 Women's Soccer Cup from Dec. 5-7.

All home games will be played at Ludwig Field and the schedule is listed below.

All home matches played at Ludwig Field in CAPS.
All dates and times subject to change.