The battle for Big East supremecy will be waged in Connecticut on Saturday when UConn, the No. 2 team in the latest SBI Top 25, takes on No. 5-ranked Notre Dame in the weekend's marquee match-up.
The Fighting Irish are riding high after scoring a big road win against No. 12 Indiana, but UConn will present a significantly tougher test. The Huskies have allowed just two goals in nine matches, with standout goalkeeper Andre Blake keeping defenses at bay. The UConn attack remains a dangerous one, with playmaker Carlos Salazar pulling the strings.
Indiana will look to regroup from the Notre Dame loss with a win on Saturday. against Big 10 rival and No. 21-ranked Penn State. The Hoosiers offense was stifled by Notre Dame, but Eriq Zavaleta and the Indiana attack should find more room to operate against the Nittany Lions, who are looking to rebound from an upset loss against Lehigh last Tuesday.
Tonight's marquee match-up takes place in Durham, where Duke and arch-rival North Carolina clash. The No. 6-ranked Tar Heels will look to post their fourth straight shutout against a struggling Blue Devils side that always finds a way to step their game up against North Carolina.
Here is a rundown of this weekend's top college soccer action:
THIS WEEKEND'S COLLEGE SCHEDULE
TONIGHT
UC Riverside vs. (4) UCSB, 11pm
Duke vs. (6) North Carolina, 7pm
Stanford vs. (10) UCLA, 7pm
George Mason vs. (11) Old Dominion, 7pm
Boston College vs. North Carolina State, 7pm
SATURDAY
College of Charleston vs. (1) Maryland, 7pm
(2) UConn vs. (5) Notre Dame, 7pm
Pittsburgh vs. (3) Georgetown, 7pm
(7) Akron vs. Buffalo, 7:30pm
Houston Baptist vs. (8) New Mexico, 8pm
Providence vs. (9) Marquette, 1pm
(12) Indiana vs. (21) Penn State, 7pm
DePaul vs. (16) St. John’s, 2pm
(18) Coastal Carolina vs. Presbyterian, 3:30pm
(19) Saint Louis vs. Central Arkansas, 7:30pm
(20) Creighton vs. Drake, 8pm
Western Michigan vs. (23) West Virginia, Noon
Villanova vs. (25) South Florida, 1pm
Cornell vs. Penn, 7pm
SUNDAY
Cal State Fullerton vs. (4) UCSB, 10:30pm
California vs. (10) UCLA, 7pm
Michigan State vs. (13) Northwestern, 2:30pm
Rutgers vs. (22) Louisville, 1pm
UC-Riverside vs. Cal Poly, 4pm
the pac12 network has a bunch of these
I realize right after posting this that you probably include these games in your Weekend Soccer on TV posts, but maybe not…
Would be great if you had the capacity to do a TV rundown. FSC shows a number of games, and the BTN used to do games on Sunday (not sure if they have yet this year)… nobody else has this info, although I know it takes time to produce.
I worry for UCSB; much tougher match than it appears. I wouldn’t be surprised by a 0-0 draw in Durham.