Tar Heels, Terps Meet on Fox Soccer Channel Friday

October 13, 2005 | Men's Soccer

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Oct. 13, 2005

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Coming off its highest offensive output since 2003, No. 5 North Carolina (9-2-1, 1-2-1 ACC) travels to No. 8 Maryland (9-3-0, 3-1-0) for an 8 p.m. Friday meeting at Ludwig Field. The match will be televised by the Fox Soccer Channel (Time Warner Digital Cable channel 144 in Chapel Hill) with Sean Wheelock calling the action. Both teams are coming off big midweek wins, as the Tar Heels toppled Longwood, 5-0, and Maryland defeated Georgetown, 6-0, Tuesday.

CAROLINA AT A GLANCE
• North Carolina is 9-2-1 on the season and has already matched last year's regular season victory total. The Tar Heels' mark after 12 games is its best since the 2003 team stood 9-1-2 at this point in the season. UNC's 8-1-1 record after 10 games was its best opening since the College Cup squad of 1987 started 9-1-0.
• The Tar Heels begin a four-match stretch of road games at Maryland Friday. Carolina has played just three road games this season and owns a 1-1-1 record away from Fetzer Field.
• Freshman midfielder Scott Campbell has started all 12 games and has a team-best six goals and 16 points. Thirteen of Carolina's 20 goals this season have been scored by players that were not on last season's roster.
• Senior Ford Williams has played 11 of 12 games in net, allowing just seven goals. He has six shutouts and his 0.61 goals against average leads the ACC and would rank as the second-lowest mark in school history.
• Carolina is building a strong NCAA Tournament resume thanks to a 4-1 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. The Tar Heels are in search of a school-record seventh straight postseason bid.
• The Tar Heels return seven starters and 17 letterwinners from last year's team that went 10-9-2 and tied for third in the ACC with a 4-3-0 league mark.

SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS
No. 8 Maryland enters Friday's match with a 9-3-0 mark and a 3-1-0 ACC record. The Terps have won four straight after back-to-back 1-0 losses to Penn State and NC State. Maryland has outscored its opponents 32-9 this season behind senior forward Jason Garey, who has a team-best 12 goals and 27 points. Sophomore midfielder Stephen King is second with 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Goalkeepers Chris Seitz and Craig Salvati have split time in the net.

SERIES WITH MARYLAND
The Tar Heels trail the all-time series with the Terps, 37-21-2, but the teams have split the last six meetings. Maryland won twice last year, 1-0, in College Park and, 4-2, in the ACC semifinals. Carolina has won two of the last four meetings at Maryland, including a 5-1 victory in 2000. The Tar Heels' last win over Maryland came in Chapel Hill in 2003 behind a game-winning goal by Corey Ashe.

LAST TIME OUT: CAROLINA 5, LONGWOOD 0
Junior forward Ben Hunter recorded his second multi-goal game of the season, and freshman midfielder Scott Campbell added a goal and an assist, as No. 5 North Carolina posted a 5-0 victory over Longwood Tuesday at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels scored five goals for the first time since a 2003 win over Mercer and recorded their seventh shutout in 12 games this season. In addition to Hunter and Campbell, freshman forward Brian Shriver and junior defender Ted Odgers also scored, while junior Justin Hughes made his first appearance of the season in goal and notched his seventh career shutout. Carolina held possession for much of the match and recorded a 20-5 edge on the shot chart.

CAMPBELL LEADS OFFENSIVE CHARTS
Freshman midfielder Scott Campbell leads the Tar Heels with 16 points on six goals and four assists through 12 games this season. The Plantation, Fla., has scored in four of the last six matches. His 16 points are the most by a Carolina freshman since Marcus Storey had 26 points (nine goals, eight assists) to earn ACC Freshman of the Year honors in 2001. Three of his goals have been game-winners against Clemson, Old Dominion and South Carolina, and Campbell has scored a goal and tallied an assist on three different occasions this season. Campbell and Dax McCarty have accounted for 24 of the Tar Heels 61 points this season to provide quite a scoring punch from the attacking midfield position.

TAR HEELS BOAST ACC'S BEST "D"
A trademark of Carolina soccer under Elmar Bolowich has been a stout defense, and this season is no different. The Tar Heels have allowed just seven goals on the year and lead the ACC with a 0.56 goals against average. Through games of Oct. 9, Carolina also rated 13th nationally in GAA with that number sure to improve after Tuesday's shutout of Longwood. UNC has allowed multiple goals only twice this season and its seven shutouts are the most since the 2003 squad notched 10.

LINEUP SHUFFLE FOR LONGWOOD
Carolina head coach Elmar Bolowich shuffled his starting lineup for Tuesday's match with Longwood. Junior Justin Hughes made his first start of the season, and junior Corey Ashe started in the midfield for the first time this season. Rookies Brian Shriver and Stephen Bickford started at forward, with usual starter Ben Hunter coming off the bench to score two second half goals. Five Tar Heels saw their first action of the season versus the Lancers: Hughes, Ty Allison, Abe Chenathara, Wes Shull and Michael Walters.

OFFENSE BREAKS OUT
Carolina scored five goals against Longwood Tuesday for its largest offensive output since a 5-0 win over Mercer in 2003. The five goals surpassed the Tar Heels' total from the previous five games combined, as UNC totalled just four goals over this stretch and was shutout twice - Virginia and Virginia Tech.

TV TIME FOR TAR HEELS
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), Fox Soccer Channel and 12 Division I men's soccer programs - including North Carolina - have reached an agreement to broadcast a "College Soccer Game of the Week" on Friday nights this fall The Tar Heels will be televised twice this season - at Maryland Oct. 14 and home versus Duke Oct. 28. Both games will begin at 8 p.m. The Fox Soccer Channel is channel 144 on Time Warner Digital Cable in the Triangle area.

SCORING STARTS WITH MCCARTY
Sophomore Dax McCarty has been outstanding in the midfield this season, providing seamless transition from defense to offense for the Tar Heels. The Winter Park, Fla., product has shown steady ball control and shares the team lead with four assists. He also takes a majority of Carolina's corner kicks and free kicks and nailed the game-winning goal off a free kick in the Tar Heels overtime win over Elon Oct. 4. McCarty's other goal this season was the winner at VCU in the season opener. His eight points are good for third on the team.

HUNTER SCORES IN BUNCHES
Junior transfer Ben Hunter is second on the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists, but his goals have come in bunches. The Doncaster, England, native scored twice in the 2-2 tie at NC State Sept. 14 and followed nearly a month later with two goals in Tuesday's win over Longwood. The former NAIA All-America has played in all 12 games for the Tar Heels, starting 10.

TAR HEELS STEADY IN THE BACK
Carolina's backline of juniors Ted Odgers, David Boole and Michael Harrington and sophomore Andre Sherard has started all 12 games for the Tar Heels this season and is one of the most veteran parts of this year's team. This group has surrendered just seven goals in 12 games this season and has limited the opponent's scoring chances, allowing just nine shots and 2.9 corner kicks per game. Odgers and Sherard man the center back positions, while Boole and Harrington moved to the outside spots for the first time this year.

FRIENDLY FETZER
The Tar Heels just completed a three-game home stand before taking to the road for four straight matches. Carolina is 7-1 at home this season and 319-99-24 in 58 seasons of soccer at Fetzer Field. After going just 5-4-1 at home a year ago, the Tar Heels dominance at Fetzer has returned, as they have allowed just three goals on their home turf all season. Carolina wraps up its home slate against Duke Oct. 28 and Boston College Nov. 4.

WILLIAMS IN RARE COMPANY
Senior Ford Williams has a career-best six shutouts this season and has logged at least five in each of his four seasons in Chapel Hill for 21 in his career. The Carolina record for career shutouts is 28.5 set by Michael Ueltschey from 1998-2001. The single-season record for shutouts is 12 set by Ueltschey in the national championship season of 2001. Having allowed just seven goals, Williams also owns a miniscule 0.61 goals against average, which would be the second lowest mark in school history if the season ended today. Kevin Kane set the school record for GAA with a 0.40 mark in 1978.

ASHE RESUMES SCORING PACE
Junior forward Corey Ashe led the Tar Heels with nine goals a year ago and he has picked up where he left off a year ago with four goals on the season to rank second on the team. Three of Ashe's four scores have been game-winners against Richmond, Rutgers and No. 22 Old Dominion. A native of Virginia Beach, Va., Ashe now has 17 career goals, including eight game-winners.

ROOKIES OFF TO STRONG STARTS
Freshman Scott Campbell and Michael Callahan have started all 12 matches, and classmates Stephen Bickford and Brian Shriver are two of the first options off the bench for the Tar Heels, as they have yet another banner rookie class. Rated fifth nationally coming into the season by College Soccer News, the Carolina freshmen have more than lived up to their billing. Campbell leads the team with 16 points through 12 games. The attacking midfielder has six goals and four assists on the year and has three game-winning scores to his credit. Callahan has provided very steady midfield play so far, while Shriver has scored two goals on the season, and Bickford one.

POSITION SWITCH PAYS FOR BOOLE, HARRINGTON
Juniors David Boole and Michael Harrington are playing outside back for the first time as Tar Heels, and the switch is paying immediate dividends. The pair has helped anchor a defense that has allowed just seven goals on the season and has shutouts in seven of Carolina's 12 games. The pair has also assisted on six of the Tar Heels' 20 goals so far this season. Boole assisted of three of Carolina's first four goals on the year and was named the ACC Player of the Week and was chosen for College Soccer News' and Soccer America's national teams of the week on September 5. Harrington played at defender with the U.S. Under-20 National Team this summer and has made a smooth transition into that position with the Tar Heels.