MEN'S NEWS ... Coming off what its coach called the "most complete 90 minutes of the year," No. 12 Virginia heads to No. 8 Maryland Saturday for a key ACC match. The Cavaliers' 2-0 victory over visiting Boston College last weekend was their third in a row and improved their record to 10-3-1. Virginia has come a long way since a horrible pre-season when it lost all three games. "We defended well and converted on our scoring chances," said Virginia coach George Gelnovatch after the BC game.

Freshman Will Bates has scored goals in each of the last four games, joining Chris Agorsor and Tony Tchani on one of the nation's most dangerous frontlines. U.S. U-20 national team winger Brian Ownby, Bates' former Richmond Strikers teammate, came off the bench and scored against BC. Former U.S. U-17 keeper Diego Restrepo, who spent two seasons at South Florida before transferring to Virginia, has been outstanding in goal for the Cavs with six shutouts.

Weekend Schedule

* LARGEST RPI IMPROVEMENT (OCT. 12-OCT. 27):
+78 Sacramento State (92 from 170) (Hornets are perfect -- 4-0-0 in the MPSF.)
+63 Missouri State (39 from 102) (Bears are riding a five-game winning streak.)
+57 Wisconsin (33 from 90) (Badgers have Big Ten wins over Northwestern, Ohio State and Michigan State.)
+51 San Jose State (137 from 188) (Spartans put eight-game unbeaten streak on the line Friday against UNLV.)
+49 Hofstra (82 from 131) (The Pride is 4-1-1 in its last six games.)
+47 Michigan State (23 from 70) (Wednesday's 2-1 win over Notre Dame was the Spartans' fourth in a row.)
+45 San Diego State (11 from 56) (Aztecs have wins over ranked UCSB and Stanford, tie with UCLA and two wins over Cal.)
+41 Bowling Green (144 from 185) (Falcons have lost to No. 1 Akron and ranked Louisville.)
+40 Northeastern (111 from 151) (Wednesday's 2-1 over Delaware extended winning streak to five games.)
+38 UCF (139 from 177) (Wednesday's 2-1 overtime loss to Kentucky dropped UCF to 6-6-2.)
(Statistics courtesy of Jamie McConeghy, San Diego State University.)