Tonight can’t come soon enough for Terrapin men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski, but his biggest on-campus support group already knows that.

On Wednesday, Cirovski e-mailed the Crew, the unofficial fan group of his No. 1 Terps, with a simple message: “I’ve MISSED YOU.”

Cirovski will return to his usual perch on the Terps sideline tonight when he, his loyal Crew members and the college soccer community will get their first official looks at the new-look defending champs, who open their season against No. 19 UCLA.

“At its core, competition is about the measurement of the man,” said Cirovski, who enters his 17th year at the helm of the Terps. “Here, we’re going to figure out exactly where we really are.”

Tonight and Sunday, when the Terps take on No. 8 California, will give the Terps a unique opportunity to measure themselves against what Cirovski personally ranks as two of the five best teams in the country.

Few teams nationwide open their schedule with two top-20 teams, but even fewer will do so with as many lingering questions as the Terps will, who lost their entire backline and several key midfielders to graduation and the professional ranks.

“I think we’re the underdog this year,” midfielder Kaoru Forbess said. “We have a lot of challenges. Every game is going to be tough for us this year.”

That’s exactly why Cirovski said he schedules games like these.

“Obviously, I want to get the result. I want to get the victory,” Cirovski said. “But to find out exactly where we are going is still pretty crucial, because if you don’t get the result against these two teams, it’s not the end of the world.”

If history is any indication, the crowds at the recently expanded Ludwig Field (new seating capacity: 7,000) may be in for a weekend of quality soccer.

Last season, the Terps commenced their title quest in California, dropping one late against the Golden Bears two days after coming from behind to upend the Bruins in overtime. The NCAA Tournament draw, however, made revenge against Cal a possibility.

In a Sweet 16 rematch, the Terps survived a flurry of last-minute assaults on goal from the Bears to preserve a 2-1 victory, avenging one of only three losses all season and taking one step closer to their eventual national title.

“I think both games were quite even, to be fair,” Cirovski said. “We know they’re a team that has great competitive spirit, they have very good players and they also bring back nine starters.”

UCLA, for its part, also returns eight starters, including midfielders Michael Stephens and Kyle Nakazawa, two candidates for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the national player of the year. California forward Andrew Wiedeman also earned a spot on the trophy’s watch list. The Terps, by contrast, has no representatives.

“There’s some talent there [on UCLA and California],” Cirovski said. “I think there’s a sense of humility that we’re not sure what we are yet.”

shaffer@umdbk.com