September 9, 1998

LUBBOCK, Texas - After several days of practice without playing any outside opponent, Texas Tech begins a two-week stretch of road games, beginning with a trip to College Park, Md., to participate in the Maryland Puma Tournament Sept. 11 and Sept. 13. The Red Raiders take on Towson State in their first game of the tournament beginning at 5 p.m. and host Maryland on the 13th at 10 a.m. It is Tech's first meeting against both teams.

A member of the America East Conference, Towson State posted a 14-6-1 record last year, including a second-place conference finish at 7-2. The Tigers return nine starters and 16 letterwinners from that squad. Under the direction of third-year coach Woody Sherwood, the Tigers hold a record of 1-0-1 (through Sept. 6), tying Loyola College, 1-1. The Tigers defeated Iona, 7-0, Sunday. Towson State has appeared in the last two America East Conference championship games, beating Delaware for the 1996 title and losing to 10th-ranked Hartford in last year's finale. The Tigers have tallied a 24-13-3 record the past two seasons after posting a 17-43-3 mark for the first four years of the program.

The Maryland Terrapins opened the 1998 season with a NSCAA preseason rank of 18th, but dropped out of this week's top-20 poll. Maryland closed out the 1997 campaign with a 12-9-3 record and reached the NCAA Tournament as the eighth seed. The Terrapins lost to George Mason in the first round by the score of 2-1. Alan Kirkup is in his third year as head coach of the Maryland women's soccer program. He returns nine starters and 18 letterwinners to the field for this season, including senior forward Keri Sarver who is the Terrapins' all-time leading scorer with 106 points. Maryland (0-2) opened the 1998 campaign with a 3-0 loss to Penn State on Sept. 4 before losing to #14 Clemson, 2-1, Sunday.