The biggest game of the weekend -- and doubtless one of the biggest games of the 2009 regular season -- kicks off in Winston-Salem on Friday night when the top two teams in the nation's top conference do battle.

Here, we have a matchup of the last two national champs (Maryland last year, Wake in 2007). A matchup of two longtime rivals who have split their all-time series down the middle, at 14-14-1. Not to mention a rematch of a game last Sept. 26 that pitted the No. 1 team in the country (then the Demon Deacons) against the No. 2 team (the Terps), a game that Wake Forest won, 2-1.

And most of all, it's a game that would either give the Terrapins -- now sitting atop the ACC with 13 points -- a six-point lead over the Deacons in the league standings, or one that would pull Wake Forest into a tie for first.

Had Wake not fallen at home to Virginia on Sept. 18, ending the nation's longest home unbeaten streak, the Deacons would have had to have the advantage going into this one. But the mystique around Wake Forest soccer games at Spry Stadium has begun to thin, leaving us with just the bare essentials of this match: a chance to watch two of the finest teams in collegiate soccer battle for supremacy right as they hit their peaks.


Last weekend was a rough one for California. So tough that the Bears fell from No. 10 to No. 20 in the country after falling first to UCLA and then to San Diego State -- the latter of which having become a master of meddling in the Pac-10. But, on the bright side, Cal gets two chances at revenge, not to mention six conference points, this weekend when it hosts the same two teams in Berkeley.

But to get those points, they'll have to do something no team (including Cal) has done since Sept. 6: beat UCLA. The Bruins head into the game on Friday riding a nine-game unbeaten streak, one that's seen them outscore their opponents 20-6 and take the No. 2 spot in the country in the NSCAA Top-25.

We talked last week about UCLA's scoring offense, led by Kyle Nakazawa and his now-defunct eight-game points streak, but this time, we look at the Bruins' defense. Or, more specifically, at the man standing in front of their net.

Brian Perk comes into the game as the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week, an award he notched for a record-tying fourth time in his career, after shutting out Cal and Stanford last weekend. Oh yeah -- the shutouts came just a week after getting kicked in the face and having to be hospitalied for an eye injury sustained during the Bruins' match with San Diego State. The U-20 National Team member will have his hands full, however, against the nation's 14th-best offense, led by Andrew Weideman and his 10 goals and 23 points.


No. 9 Charlotte (8-1-3, 2-0-1 A-10) vs. La Salle (4-7-3, 0-2-2), Friday, 7 p.m. - Live Stats | Watch Online
No. 9 Charlotte (8-1-3, 2-0-1 A-10) vs. Fordham (7-5-1, 4-0-0), Sunday, 1 p.m. - Live Stats | Watch Online
Charlotte, profiled earlier this week by NCAA.com, is now a marked team, and the 49ers know it. And with every game they win (the 9ers are currently riding an 11-game unbeaten streak), the target just grows bigger. Against two teams that'll scrap and grind for wins, they'll have to work to get six points in the always-chaotic Atlantic-10 standings in their final home games of the regular season.

First, it'll be La Salle, a team that's struggled this year and hasn't yet recorded a win in four conference games. Then, on Sunday, the 49ers take on relatively unlikely conference leader Fordham, who has a perfect 4-0-0 mark in the league -- although only one of those wins has come against a team in the top half of the A-10 standings. 

When we spoke on Wednesday, coach Jeremy Gunn talked about the adjustments his team has to make every year, going from playing a style of soccer conducive to the fields of the South -- those of trimmed, brushed bluegrass -- to the tougher, sloppier Northern pitches and the kind of game that comes with that. So, before the 49ers finish with four games on the road, look for them to try to dictate the style of play early in this pair, before it gets much more difficult next weekend.

No. 7 Monmouth (12-0-1, 4-0-1 NEC) @ Robert Morris (2-11-2, 2-2-2), Friday, 3 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 7 Monmouth (12-0-1, 4-0-1 NEC) @ St. Francis (Pa.) (5-9-1, 1-4-1), Sunday, 1 p.m. 
Monmouth, after playing just one game last weekend, is back to double-dipping. And as the undefeated Hawks continue to win, the question keeps looming: When will they lose? Or will they? They've been dominant in NEC play, but seem to struggle when they split the cornfields of Western Pennsylvania. And even though both opponents have records way under .500 this year -- RMU didn't have a single win or tie until NEC play began -- could one of these low-lying teams be a snake in the grass for the Hawks?

Said head coach Robert McCourt in the Monmouth release: "Our last two meetings with Saint Francis (Pa.) have been overtime games and with RMU we have a tie and a loss. It will be a difficult trip, but the guys are excited about the challenge."