For those who think the weekend in Chapel Hill will be devoid of exciting sports because the football team will have played Thursday night game, think again.

"The University of North Carolina has a passion to be good in everything," football coach Butch Davis says. He's right. And Carolina is indeed good at just about everything in sport.

Saturday at 1 p.m. at Henry Field, which sits across from Boshamer Stadium and adjoining the football practice field, a contest of national prominence will occur. This game will pit the No. 1-ranked Maryland Terrapins (16-0) women's field hockey team against the No. 2-ranked Tar Heels (15-0).

There is a good chance this is the preview for the eventual national championship game.

This game will provide local fans with a chance to see a true Olympic sport played at its highest level in the collegiate ranks, and don't forget that you may be watching future Olympians, too.

Some of the young women from both of these teams will wear a jersey with USA someday, if they have not already.

There is a subplot in this game. Cousins Brianna O'Donnell, a Carolina goalkeeper, and Maryland's Katie O'Donnell, a member of the U.S. National Team since age 16 and perhaps the top playmaker in the country, will meet one another on this grand stage, with Katie attempting to score on her cousin or set up a teammate to do so.

"It kind of makes it [the game] more intense," Katie O'Donnell said. "You always want to score on her, and she always wants to save my goals. So I'm pretty sure each of us works a little harder when we're one on one with each other. We have competitions with each other so it does make it a little sweeter. I'm sure if I don't score she feels much better."

This is not the first time the two have faced each other in college. UNC's Brianna is a senior, and Maryland's Katie is a junior. Their hometowns are barely 10 miles apart in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

"When we were younger we butted heads, younger as in 6 or 7 years old, but as we got older and gotten into college we've been really, really close," Katie said.

Saturday's game will match the last two NCAA champions. Carolina went 24-0 to win the title in 2007, and Maryland has won three of the last four titles, going 22-2 in 2008.

This year, the Tar Heels have an amazing 11 shutouts out of their 15 games, and that is because of more than just good play by Brianna.

The Tar Heels' defense is extraordinary.

The two are 1-2 in the country in scoring, with UNC edging the Terps with an average of 5.15 versus 5.00 goals per game. Carolina's goals-against average of .23 per game is so far beyond the rest of the country it's mind-boggling.

But none of these statistics will matter on Saturday, of course. They never do when teams of this stature collide.

Some little detail will probably decide Saturday's outcome -- a small mistake by one team or a heroic effort by the other.

Maybe both.

Either way, there is little doubt that, whether you have never seen a field hockey game or you love the sport, Saturday is the day to get a good look at the best college field hockey has to offer. It'll be right here, on the artificial turf at Henry Stadium.

Carolina coach Karen Shelton certainly likes the way her team is playing as they enter this game, winning two tough road games against ranked teams this past weekend. One of those was a 2-1 overtime victory at Virginia on Saturday and a 2-0 victory against James Madison on Sunday.

The toughness needed to survive that road trip should only pay dividends when Saturday rolls around.

"It's challenging to play two ranked teams back-to-back on the road," Shelton said. "I thought winning both games showed toughness and maturity on the part of our team."