University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Look To Rebound Against Wake Forest In Home Finale
October 12, 2006 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 12, 2006
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After seeing a six-match unbeaten stretch snapped at Campbell Tuesday, No. 3 North Carolina looks to start a new streak when fifth-ranked Wake Forest comes to Fetzer Field at 7 p.m. Friday. The Tar Heels (10-3-2, 2-2-1 ACC) and Demon Deacons (11-2-1, 2-2-1 ACC) find themselves in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as the regular season draws to a close. Carolina will be playing its final regular season home game, and the team's seven seniors will be honored beforehand. A webcast of Friday's match will be available at ACCSelect.com.
NO. 5 WAKE FOREST AT NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA
OCT. 13, 2006, 7 P.M.
FETZER FIELD, CHAPEL HILL
Setting the Stage: Carolina (10-3-2, 2-1-1 ACC) welcomes Wake Forest (11-2-1, 2-2-1 ACC) to Chapel Hill for a key ACC match at 7 p.m. Friday. The Tar Heels hope to rebound from an upset loss at Campbell Tuesday, while the Deacs are coming off a win at Connecticut.
In The National Rankings: Carolina is ranked No. 3 by Soccer America and No. 16 in the NSCAA/adidas rankings. Wake Forest is rated No. 5 in both polls.
Series History: Carolina leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 19-6-6, but the teams are an even 3-3-1 since 2000. The Tar Heels posted a 1-0 win in 2005.
CAROLINA AT A GLANCE
• One of the deepest teams in recent memory, Carolina has 10 wins on the season, and 10 different Tar Heels have accounted for game-winning goals. Twelve different players have scored goals on the year, while 11 different players have notched assists. Sophomore midfielder Michael Callahan and senior forward Ben Hunter lead the team with 10 points each, while Callahan leads the squad with four goals.
• After scoring just seven times though the first six games of the season, UNC has picked up the scoring pace with 16 goals over its last nine outings. Sophomore midfielder Michael Callahan leads the team with four goals over this stretch.
• The Tar Heels now have blanked seven of 15 opponents this season and 15 of their last 26 dating to last year. Since the start of the 2005 season, Carolina has 22 shutouts in its last 39 games. The Tar Heels have allowed only 29 goals over this stretch and have surrendered multiple goals just seven times since the start of last season.
• Carolina returns 95 percent of its scoring from 2005 (39 of 41 goals). FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty is the lone Tar Heel to score a goal last season not back on the roster in 2006.
• The Tar Heels return 10 starters from last year's team that went 17-4-3 and reached the ACC Tournament final, as well as the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
• Carolina is 6-1-2 at home this season and is 16-3-3 at Fetzer over the last two seasons. All-time, the Tar Heels are 328-101-26 on their home pitch.
• Senior goalkeeper Justin Hughes recorded his 18th career shutout in the Sept. 26 win over Elon and has allowed just 18 goals over 24 games since moving into the starting line-up in mid-October 2005.
CAROLINA-WAKE FOREST SERIES HISTORY
Carolina leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 19-6-6, since the teams first met in 1980. The Tar Heels snapped a four-match winless streak against the Demon Deacons with an overtime win in Winston-Salem a year ago. Michael Callahan scored the game winner. Since 2000, the teams sport an even 3-3-1 record.
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS
Wake Forest is 4-0-1 in its last five games and posted a 1-0 victory at No. 23 Connecticut Tuesday. The Deacs have six players with eight or more points, including Wells Thompson, who leads the way with 12 points on five goals and two assists. Brian Edwards has played every minute in goal this season and owns a 0.89 goals against average. Wake has outscored its opponents, 31-13, on the year.
LAST TIME OUT: CAMPBELL 1, CAROLINA 0
Third-ranked North Carolina suffered its first non-conference regular season loss since 2004 Tuesday, as the Tar Heels fell 1-0 on an own goal in the 75th minute at Campbell's Eakes Athletic Complex. The Tar Heels (10-3-2) outshot the Camels (7-5-1) by a 17-4 margin but still saw their season-best six-match unbeaten streak snapped.
Carolina entered Tuesday's match with an 18-0-1 record against non-conference opponents in the regular season since the start of 2005. The Tar Heels last lost a non-league game in the regular season at No. 2 UNC Greensboro Sept. 29, 2004, and had posted 22 straight wins against such opponents prior to last week's 3-3 tie against High Point.
The own goal came on a corner kick by Campbell's Jairo Zambrana's that was redirected into the Tar Heel goal by UNC midfielder Michael Callahan at 74:41.
SEVEN SENIORS HONORED
North Carolina's seven-man senior class of Corey Ashe, Blake Beach, David Boole, Michael Harrington, Justin Hughes, Ben Hunter and Ted Odgers will be honored prior to the start of Friday's key ACC match with Wake Forest. This group has been a part of three trips to the NCAA Tournament. including last year's quarterfinal appearance, and has helped lead UNC to 49 wins thus far over the last four seasons.
HEELS STRONG IN BIG GAMES
Friday's meeting with Wake Forest marks Carolina's fourth match against a top-five opponent this season. The Tar Heels are 1-1-1 in their first three meetings and have surrendered just three goals - one in each game. Carolina is unbeaten against ranked teams at home this season, having bested No. 1 Virginia, No. 13 Penn State, No. 20 Ohio State. The Tar Heels tied No. 2 Maryland last Friday, and their only loss to a ranked opponent came at No. 2 Clemson Sept. 15.
FANS FLOCKING TO FETZER
The Tar Heels' three ACC matches at home have both topped more than 3,000 in attendance, something that has only happened 10 times in UNC men's soccer history. The Tar Heels drew a season-best 3,581 fans to last Friday's draw with No. 2 Maryland for the third largest crowd in program history. The 3,223 at Carolina's win over No. 1 Virginia Sept. 22 was the fifth largest crowd, while the 3,012 at the loss to NC State Sept. 6 was the 10th biggest crowd.
FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS
Carolina's trip to Clemson Sept. 15 marked the beginning of a tough stretch of Friday nights for the Tar Heels, who will face a team ranked in the top 16 of the Sept. 18 Soccer America rankings for six consecutive Fridays. All six games are against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. The Tar Heels are 3-1-1 against ranked opponents so far this season. Including last Friday's match with Maryland, Carolina plays a team ranked in Soccer America's current top five for three straight weeks: No. 2 Maryland, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Wake Forest.
SHERARD STEADY AS EVER
Junior center back Andre Sherard rarely posts any stats in the box score - he has just one career assist and has taken only one career shot - but is arguably the most consistent player on the UNC roster. He has started 58 of a possible 60 games since 2004. He missed one game last year following a red card, and did not start against High Point this year due to a back injury. But after the Panthers scored three times on just five shots, Sherard came on to help hold HPU scoreless the rest of the way as UNC rallied for a tie.
TAR HEELS FIND OFFENSIVE BALANCE
Carolina has found a great deal of balance on the offensive side of the ball, as 12 different Tar Heels have found the back of the net through 13 games. UNC last had a dozen goal scorers in 2002.
Carolina and Wake Forest share the ACC lead with 12 different goal scorers.
The Tar Heels also have 10 players with five or more points on the year.
DEPTH A KEY FOR UNC
With several minor injuries hitting the Heels at times this season, Carolina has had all 10 of its returning starters in the starting lineup just twice this season - at Clemson Sept. 15 and against Virginia Sept. 22.
Fortunately, UNC is blessed with a deep and talented roster, and 16 players have seen action in 10 or more games and 10 have tallied five or more points.
Senior defender David Boole is the lone player to start all 15 games.
CALLAHAN A FORCE IN THE MIDFIELD
Sophomore midfielder Michael Callahan has emerged as a play-making force in the UNC midfield this season with a team-best four goals and 10 points. After tallying just three points a year ago, the Cary native bested that output in the Sept. 12 win over Quinnipiac with two goals off the bench. He followed with a goal in in the Sept. 19 win over VCU for three goals over a three-game stretch and added his fourth goal in the tie with High Point Oct. 3.
CAMPBELL COMING ON
Sophomore midfielder Scott Campbell has come on strong of late after playing limited minutes early in the season due to adductor surgery in the offseason. His playing time has increased as the season has progressed, and the Plantation, Fla., native has tallied eight points over his last 10 games (nine starts). On the season, Campbell is third on the team with nine points and now has 35 career points in 37 games played.
BACKLINE BACK AT IT
Carolina's veteran backline of David Boole, Michael Harrington, Ted Odgers and Andre Sherard has been as good as ever this season with a 0.75 goals against average through 15 games. The Tar Heels have surrendered just 12 scores on the year thanks in large part to center backs Odgers and Sherard, who have been outstanding against the opposition's top offensive threats.
Boole and Harrington have combined for six points on a goal and four assists from the outside.
SUPER SOPHOMORES
Carolina's senior class is certainly the backbone of this team, but the sophomore group of Stephen Bickford, Michael Callahan, Scott Campbell and Brian Shriver have carried much of the offensive load of late. This quartet has combined for 31 points or 42 percent of UNC's point total on the year.
ROOKIES FITTING RIGHT IN
Carolina's talented freshmen class has been an important part of the team since the start of the season, but they've clearly adjusted to the college game of late. Rookies Eddie Ababio, Bill Dworsky and Zach Loyd have combined for five goals over the last six games, and the freshman class has accounted for 17 total points and three game-winning goals.
Ababio, Dworsky, Loyd and goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty have combined for 17 starts on the year.
