University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Soccer Opens With a Pair This Weekend
August 30, 2001 | Men's Soccer
Aug. 30, 2001
CHAPEL HILL -- The Carolina men's soccer team will open its 2001 season this weekend with a pair of games at Fetzer Field on the UNC campus. The defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions will host East Carolina on Friday at 7 p.m. and Appalachian State on Monday at 7 p.m.
Carolina played its lone exhibition match of 2001 last weekend, journeying to face the University of Massachusetts on the road and shutting out the Minutemen, 2-0. Juniors Mike Gell and Ryan Kneipper scored for the Tar Heels. Senior keeper Michael Ueltschey earned the shutout in the goal.
Carolina is ranked No. 5 in the NSCAA preseason national poll and was chosen by conference coaches as the preseason favorite to win the ACC title this fall.
UNC returns six starters from last year's squad. Sophomore midfielder Logan Pause, who would have been the team's leading returning scorer, will miss the 2001 season after undergoing knee surgery.
The team's strength will be its defense, led by seniors Ueltschey, Danny Jackson, Chris Leitch and sophomore David Stokes. The Tar Heels lost 78 percent of their goals and 56 percent of their assists from last season.
Following this weekend's action, the Heels will face a tough challenge when it plays Cincinnati and traditional power Saint Louis in the Saint Louis Soccer Classic in St. Louis, Mo.
