The Iona College men will travel to College Park, Md. to meet the defending champion University of Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Division I tournament Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Maroon and Gold received the automatic bid by winning the the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship as it won its first conference title in program history.

The Terrapins (10-7-2) and lost to Indiana University in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament last weekend.

The game will be played at Ludwig Field, where the Terrapins are 8-3-0 this season.

The winner will play at fourth-seeded Wake Forest University Sunday.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.