The Maryland men’s soccer team earned the No. 11 overall seed in the NCAA tournament Monday, its 18th consecutive postseason appearance, and will host the winner of NC State and Campbell on Sunday.

This is the eighth time in the last nine years the Terps have received a first-round bye, after failing to do so last year for the first time since 2009.

After Maryland (8-6-4, 4-4 Big Ten) lost in penalty kicks to Indiana in the conference tournament semifinals, coach Sasho Cirovski said his team had a good chance of earning a top-16 overall seed and an automatic second-round appearance.

“The strength of our schedule and our quality against opposition in the top 50 ranks up there with all of the top four or five teams in the country,” Cirovski said Friday. “Those things in years past have gone a long way toward consideration for the top 16. I think we’ll get a lot of credit for the strength of our schedule and our quality wins and ties against opposition that will be in the NCAA tournament.”

[Read more: Maryland men’s soccer was lucky to force a shootout, but got unlucky in it]

Maryland has played well after facing a 4-5-3 record with only four games remaining in the regular season. A below-.500 record would’ve automatically excluded the Terps from NCAA tournament consideration.

Maryland entered the 2018 campaign unranked for the first time since 2001 and never entered the top 25 at any point. The Terps didn’t receive votes for a majority of the season, either, after starting the year 0-2-2 with no goals.

After a slow start to the season, Maryland has only lost twice in the past month. The Terps won four games during this stretch, including ranked wins over Summit League tournament champion Denver and Michigan State.

[Read more: Indiana beats Maryland men’s soccer on penalty kicks in Big Ten tourney semis]

Cirovski wanted to test the mettle of his team with a difficult schedule this season, and he succeeded. The Terps finished the conference tournament with the second-toughest schedule, the 12th-best RPI in the country and has played eight top-25 teams.

Maryland can prove its difficult slate paid off with a postseason run beginning Sunday at Ludwig Field.

NC State (9-6-3, 2-4-2 ACC) lost in the conference quarterfinals to No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest, while Campbell (9-8-3, 4-3-1 Big South) earned an automatic bid by winning its conference tournament.