The UNH men's soccer team salutes the crowd at Wildcat Stadium last season. The 'Cats open the season Thursday at the University of Maryland. (Courtesy photo by China Wong/UNH Athletics)

DURHAM — The No. 9 University of New Hampshire men’s soccer team kicks off the 2022 season on Thursday with a top-20 clash at No. 20 and four-time national champion Maryland at 6 PM at Ludwig Field.

The game will be shown live on national television on ESPNU with Joe Malfa and Kaylyn Kyle on the call. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

UNH is 21-0-4 over the last 25 regular season games outscoring the opposition 56-13 during this stretch. The Wildcats have gone undefeated in two straight regular seasons with a 6-0-1 record in 2020 and a 15-0-2 mark in 2021. UNH’s last regular season loss was a 1-0 defeat to UAlbany on Nov. 1, 2019. The Wildcats are also32-6-8 versus non-conference competition over the last five seasons.

Other things to keep in mind heading into the opener:

The Wildcats are 17-2-2 (.857) on the road over the last three seasons.

UNH is 6-1-0 all-time in season openers under head coach Marc Hubbard. The Wildcats are 87-25-16 (.742) under Hubbard, including 65-13-13 (.786) over the last five seasons.

The Wildcats enter the season ranked No. 9 in the United Coaches Preseason Poll and return 19 of the 32 players from the 2022 season. The Wildcats also welcome 10 student-athletes to the team.

The Wildcats were also voted first in the America East Preseason Poll. The Wildcats are 25-5-5 (.786) over the last five seasons during conference play with three conference tournament championships (2018, 2019, 2020).

UNH has made six NCAA Tournament appearances (1994, 2017, 2018, 2018, 2020, 2021), and the Wildcats went 17-2-2 (7-0-1 America East) during a historic 2021 season that featured program records for wins (17) and winning percentage (.857). UNH advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history after defeating North Carolina, 4-1, in the second round at Wildcat Stadium. UNH led the nation with a .466 team goals against average, while the Wildcats’ .857 winning percentage was fifth in the country and their 47 goals scored were ranked 10th.

Last year, the Terrapins went 12-4-2 and fell to LIU 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Maryland has won four national championships (1968, 2005, 2008, 2018).

After the season opener at Maryland, UNH will take on Boston University on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. in the home opener at Wildcat Stadium on ESPN+. UNH is 43-2-7 all-time at Wildcat Stadium, outscoring the opposition, 109-19.