University of North Carolina Athletics
Heels Host Blue Devils Friday On ESPN3
October 3, 2013 | Men's Soccer
Friday, Oct. 4, 2013 • 7 p.m.
Chapel Hill, N.C. • Fetzer Field
No. 6 North Carolina hosts ACC rival Duke on Friday night at 7 p.m., on ESPN3.
It will be Triangle United YDA and Rainbow Soccer Night. All participants, coaches and families can purchase $2 tickets for the match. The Tar Heels will also sign autographs on the track after the contest comes to a conclusion.
Carolina is hosting only its second league fixture of the season. Both clubs Friday night will be determined to earn its first ACC victory of the season. UNC has earned four draws in league play thus far. Included in that group is the top-three teams in the standings - Wake Forest, Maryland and Notre Dame.
Meanwhile, Duke is 4-4-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the ACC, and is coming off a mid-week loss to UNC Wilmington. The lone point earned thus far in the league came in a 1-1 draw at home to Virginia Tech.
Strong goaltending and defense has been the Tar Heels calling card this season. Brendan Moore has been very steady with a 0.55 goals-against-average and four shutouts. Both figures rank among the top three in the ACC.
Senior forward Josh Rice got into the scoring column with a goal last Saturday at #24 Wake Forest. The veteran fifth-year player found the back of the net for the first time since the 2010 campaign. The marker held up until the 89th minute when the Deacons scored the equalizer off a corner kick.
Minutes earlier, Moore stopped a penalty kick that kept momentum in the favor of Carolina before Wake scored with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
Carolina Hosts Duke Friday Night
• The Tar Heels are 6-0-1 in the last seven meetings with Duke dating back to 2007.
• UNC is 22-12-5 all-time at Fetzer Field against the Blue Devils and has not lost to Duke at home since 1999.
• Carolina earned a 2-1 overtime victory in Durham last season against the Blue Devils by scoring twice in a span of 5:11. Cameron Brown scored the equalizer in the 87th minute, before Jordan Gafa delivered the game winner in the 92nd minute with Carolina holding a two-man advantage in the second half.
Rice Reaches The Back Of The Net
• You had to go all the way back to 2010 since Josh Rice scored a goal for North Carolina, but that was all erased when he found the back of the net in the 26th minute at No. 24 Wake Forest last Saturday night.
• In his fifth and final campaign in Chapel Hill, Rice leads the club with 26 shots in 2013.
Moore Than You Can Handle
• UNC keeper Brendan Moore is tied for the lead in the ACC with four clean sheets in 2013, and is third with a 0.55 goals-against-average.
• He has played all 818 minutes between the pipes this year for the Tar Heels, making 28 saves and owns an .848 save percentage.
By George He Did It!
• Sophomore midfielder Raby George scored the first game winner of his Carolina career in the 97th minute to give his club a 1-0 overtime victory over Campbell on Sept. 17.
• The Swede is tied for the team lead with three goals in 2013.
Holness' Highlight
• Go to YouTube and punch in Omar Holness in the search box. The first video clip is from his amazing goal scored in the 2-2 draw with #18 Maryland.
• The freshman midfielder from Jamaica made his run from over 60 yards, weaving through the Terrapins defense for his first goal at UNC.
McCrary Missed Match Vs. Hokies
• Junior defender Jordan McCrary was shown a red card against Campbell and was not available for the tilt at Virginia Tech.
Engel Makes An Early Impression
• Junior forward Tyler Engel scored in each of the first three games of the season, including the game-winning goal in two victories this year.
• The first came in the 103rd minute of double OT against Monmouth in the season opener.
• Engel is in his first season with UNC after playing two seasons at SMU.
• He scored 12 goals in two seasons with the Mustangs, including a team-best 8 in 2012.
Carolina Believes in Cleanliness
• UNC has started 2013 the same way it has performed in recent years, posting clean sheets.
• Standout keeper Scott Goodwin led the nation with a school-record 17 shutouts in 2012.
• This year keeper Brendan Moore has recorded four shutouts so far in 2013.
• Dating back to early in the 2011 campaign, UNC has shutout 33 of its last 52 opponents.
Getting That First One
• Carolina has a tendency to control the pace of play in its matches, especially when the Tar Heels are able to take a lead.
• Before the 1-1 draw at Notre Dame on Sept. 8, 2013, the Tar Heels had won 42 straight games when scoring the first goal of the match.
• UNC is 47-1-2 when scoring the game's first goal the last four years.
• The Tar Heels were 14-1-0 in 2010, 15-0-0 in both 2011 and 2012 and 3-0-2 so far in 2013.
Scoreless Streaks
• Carolina opened the season by not allowing a goal for a stretch of 270:41, before Notre Dame found the back of the net in the 79th minute,
• UNC had another stretch that reached 352:44 before William & Mary scored in the 73rd.
Winner, Winner...
• Since head coach Carlos Somoano took over the Tar Heel program in 2011, he has led his program to 40 victories, the third most nationally in that time frame.
NCAA Wins Leader Since 2011 (as of 10/2)
1. Coastal Carolina 44
2. Creighton 43
3. North Carolina 40
Connecticut 40
New Mexico 40
Okwuonu Named Hermann Trophy Candidate
• UNC junior defender Boyd Okwuonu has been identified as a candidate for the 2013 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, the top award in college soccer.
