Top-10 showdown among key openers

Aug. 26 — 8 p.m. ET: St. John’s Red Storm vs. No. 5 Maryland Terrapins
(ACC/Big East Challenge at Germantown, Md.)

Aug. 27 — 7 p.m. ET: No. 6 UCLA Bruins at No. 1 Louisville Cardinals

Aug. 27 — 8 p.m. ET: No. 13 William & Mary Tribe at No. 5 SMU Mustangs

Aug. 28 – 7 p.m. ET: No. 8 Michigan Wolverines at Kentucky Wildcats

Rowe

Kelyn Rowe
UCLA
Sophomore
Midfielder

Key Notes: A member of the 2011 Hermann Trophy Watch List, Rowe scored seven goals and added 10 assists to earn Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 2010. As a freshman, Rowe led the Bruins to a 16-5-1 record which ended in a quarterfinal loss in the NCAA tournament against Louisville.

Other Players to Watch this Weekend:  Maryland’s Casey Townsend (Senior, Midfielder); Creighton’s Tyler Polak (Sophomore, Defender); SMU’s Arthur Ivo (Senior, Midfielder); Louisville’s Austin Berry (Senior, Defender); Connecticut’s Tony Cascio (Senior Forward); North Carolina’s Enzo Martinez (Junior, Midfielder)

• The top-10 matchup between No. 1 Louisville and No. 6 UCLA is a rematch of a quarterfinal matchup in the 2010 NCAA tournament in which the Cardinals came back from two goals down at two separate occasions to beat the Bruins 5-4.

• Maryland opens its season with a pair of games in which the Terrapins will start Will Swaim at keeper, replacing All-American Zac MacMath who anchored one of the nation’s best defenses in 2010.

• Defending champion Akron had seven players get selected in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. The Zips look to forward Darren Mattocks and keeper David Meves to lead a new group to another title.