The Maryland men’s soccer team is unranked in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll released Monday, the first time since 2001 that the Terps enter the season outside the top 25.
Maryland is on the cusp of the rankings, tying for the third-most votes among the unranked teams.
Nine of the Terps’ opponents this season are ranked, including each of their first three. Maryland travels to No. 24 Washington for the season-opener Aug. 24, then hosts No. 1 Stanford a week later and plays No. 15 Virginia at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 3.
Big Ten foes Indiana (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 7), Wisconsin (No. 12) and Michigan (No. 21) are all ranked. The Hoosiers lost to Stanford in the national championship last season. The Terps will also play No. 13 Georgetown and No. 18 Coastal Carolina in nonconference play.
The Terps began last season as the No. 6 team in the country and climbed as high as No. 3 behind a 13-game unbeaten streak to start the year. Maryland finished the 2017 campaign unranked after losing five consecutive contests and being eliminated on penalty kicks in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Maryland scored two goals over the last six games of the season, finishing with 29 after netting 53 in the year prior. Now, the Maryland attack is without three of its top four goal-scorers from last season, as Eryk Williamson, Gordon Wild and Jake Rozhansky are all playing professionally.
The Terps retain goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and three-fourths of their backline, including 2017 Big Ten All-Second Team member Donovan Pines, senior Chase Gasper and junior Johannes Bergmann.
