By IVES GALARCEP
Notre Dame’s move to the ACC figured to set up some memorable match-ups for the Fighting Irish, and the first of those tough conference tests comes on Sunday, when the SBI No. 5 Fighting Irish take on No. 7 North Carolina.
The Tar Heels made a big climb into the top ten on the strength of an impressive 4-0 thrashing of Coastal Carolina, but Notre Dame figures to pose a much tougher challenge after tying UCLA and beating SMU in the season’s opening weekend.
No. 2 Akron stands poised to take over the top spot in the SBI rankings after UCLA’s loss on Thursday night to Cal Poly, but first the Zips must beat a pair of tough East Coast opponents in St. John’s and Rutgers this weekend.
New Mexico has a good road trip as well this weekend, with good tests against VCU and SBI No. 3 Georgetown on the slate.
Here is a rundown of who the teams in the SBI Top 25 will be facing off against this weekend:
COLLEGE SOCCER WEEKEND SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
4pm- (3) Georgetown vs. West Virginia
5pm- VCU vs. (13) New Mexico
6pm- (17) Marquette vs. Bowling Green
7pm- (14) Coastal Carolina vs. Charlotte
7pm- (24) Brown vs. Bryant College
7:30pm- (23) Duke vs. (8) Maryland
7:30pm- (4) UConn vs. Boston
7:30pm- Cincinnati vs. (11) Saint Louis
8pm- St. John’s vs. (2) Akron
8:30pm- Columbia vs. (9) Creighton
8:30pm- (25) UAB vs. (10) Indiana
8pm- Clemson vs. (16) Virginia
8:30pm- (21) Tulsa vs. Ohio State
10:30pm- (18) UCSB vs. Gonzaga
10:30pm- (20) Washington vs. Portland
SATURDAY
7pm- (12) Louisville vs. Butler
7pm- (15) Wake Forest vs. Boston College
7pm- Xavier vs. (19) Northwestern
10pm- Santa Clara vs. (22) Stanford
SUNDAY
11am- (11) Saint Louis vs. Northern Illinois
Noon- (3) Georgetown vs. (13) New Mexico
Noon- (5) Notre Dame vs. (7) North Carolina
1pm- Rutgers vs. (2) Akron
4pm- Providence vs. (24) Brown
7pm- (8) Maryland vs. VCU
8pm- (10) Indiana vs. West Virginia