After opening the season 2-3, the University of Massachusetts field hockey team figures to face its toughest challenge yet this weekend.

The Minutewomen will host No. 20 Northeastern today at 6 p.m., and No. 3 Maryland, the defending national champion, Sunday at noon.

The Terrapins are 5-1, while the Huskies are 4-2.

Sunday's game pits new UMass coach Carla Tagliente against her alma mater. Tagliente was a four-time All-American at Maryland from 1997-2000. She left as the program's career scoring leader and helped lead the Terrapins to the 1999 national championship.

UMass was 2-3 against top 10 teams last year, including a 3-0 loss to Maryland.

Callie Sweigart and Kim Young share UMass' scoring lead this season. Each have two goals and an assist.

Friday's game will feature the first meeting between the Dunn twins. Marisa is a freshman for the Minutewomen while Kelly plays for Northeastern.

It will also be a homecoming for former Amherst Regional standout Olivia Bass, who has appeared in six games for the Huskies. The junior midfielder did not play when Northeastern visited UMass her freshman year.

FAMILIAR FACE - To replace assistant Kevin Burns, who was hired as the head coach of Bellarmine, UMass men's lacrosse coach Greg Cannella hired former Minuteman star Brian Jacovina, who had been an assistant at St. John's since 2008.

From 2004-07, Jacovina had 84 points on 30 goals and 54 assists for the Minutemen.

WOMEN'S SOCCER AT HOME - The Minutewomen (3-2-1) will try to build off of last week's 1-0 upset of No. 20 Boston University, today at 4 p.m. when they host Maine at Rudd Field. The Black Bears are 3-1-1, including a 1-0 win over UMass' Atlantic 10 rival Rhode Island.

BOSTON WEEKEND - After notching its first win and first goal last week against UNH, the UMass men's soccer team is still trying to get on track.

The Minutemen (1-4) will play at Harvard today at 7 p.m. before hosting Boston University Sunday at 1 p.m. at Rudd Rield.

ELSEWHERE - The men's and women's cross country teams will host the Minuteman Invite, their only home meet of the season, Saturday. The men's race will start at 11:30 a.m., while the women begin at noon.

The women's tennis team opens its season at the Harvard Fall Classic, with action today, Saturday and Sunday.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.