University of North Carolina Athletics
October 21, 2015 | Women's Soccer
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TAR HEELS LOOK TO BOUNCE BACK INTO WIN COLUMN WITH WEEKEND GAMES AGAINST NOTRE DAME AND CLEMSON:
The University of North Carolina women's soccer team willl look to bounce back from a trio of one-goal ACC losses when the Tar Heels play host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Thursday at 7 p.m. at Fetzer Field before hosting the Clemson Tigers Sunday at 1 p.m. at Fetzer Field.
Tickets are $5 general admission and $3 for groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the UNC Ticket Center on GoHeels.com. or in person at the ticket office at the Ernie Williamson Athletic Center.
Tickets will also be available on game day at the Carmichael Arena ticket office. It will open at 6 p.m. in advance of the 7 p.m. starting time for the Notre Dame game Thursday and at 12 noon Sunday prior to the Tar Heels' contest against Clemson.
The game with Notre Dame will be webcast live on ESPN3 and Watch ESPN. Dean Linke will be the play by play voice of the game while Bobby Hundley will be the color analyst.
The UNC-Clemson game Sunday will be webcast on GoHeelsTV with Brian Waer on the call. Both contests will also be broadcast on WCHL Radio (97.9 FM, Chapelboro.com) with Paul Connell on the play by play and John Stanley handling color commentary.
UNC enters the Notre Dame match with a record of 11-3-1 overall and a mark of 4-3 in the ACC. Notre Dame is 11-3-1 overall and 4-3 in the ACC.
Carolina is ranked ninth this week by both the NSCAA coaches association poll and the Soccer America poll. The Fighting Irish are ranked 15th in the coaches poll but stand above the Tar Heels in the Soccer America poll at No. 8.
Clemson is 11-2-1 overall and 5-2 in the ACC heading into its game at NC State on Thursday night. Clemson is ranked ahead of the Tar Heels in both national polls this week. The Tigers are fifth in the Soccer America poll and sixth in the NSCAA poll.
AN END TO THE LOSING STREAK: The Tar Heels have played in tough luck over the past three games, falling in ACC play three straight times. Remarkably, it is only the second time in Carolina's long soccer history dating back to 1979 that the Tar Heels have lost three matches in a row.
The only other occasion came near the end of the 2011 season when UNC fell to Virginia Tech and Maryland in its final two ACC regular-season games before falling to Florida State in double overtime in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
HOME FIELD DISADVANTAGE: In the history of the Notre Dame versus North Carolina series, UNC leads 15-6-2. But the series at Fetzer Field has heavily favored the Fighting Irish who have won five of the seven meetings in Chapel Hill.
The most recent meeting came two years ago when Notre Dame won 1-0 in its opening year in the ACC.
Carolina has lost just 61 games in its 37-year history. Notre Dame's six wins against UNC are the second most by any opponent. Only Florida State, with seven wins, has beaten UNC more often.
LOOKING TO END SCORELESS STREAK: UNC enters the Notre Dame having been blanked in back-to-back games by Florida State and Duke. UNC enters the match against the Fighting Irish looking for its first goal in 245 minutes and 20 seconds. The last time Carolina put a shot in the back of the net came on October 8 when Alex Kimball scored at 34:31 in an eventual 2-1 overtime loss to Louisville.
IN THE ACC REGULAR SEASON: In its last 20 ACC regular season games, UNC is 16-3-1. The Tar Heels had a 17-game ACC unbeaten streak ended at Louisville on October 8 in overtime 2-1 before falling at Florida State and Duke by 1-0 scores.
The Tar Heels won their last three games of the 2013 season, went 9-0-1 in 2014 and have started with four straight wins in 2015.
Prior to falling at Louisville, Carolina's last ACC regular season loss came on October 20, 2013 when Virginia beat the Tar Heels 2-0 at Fetzer Field.
Carolina's three ACC regular season losses, however, are not a first. UNC fell three times in ACC play in 2000, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In three of those five seasons UNC ended up winning the NCAA championship.
FOUR GAME WINNING STREAK TO START THE ACC SEASON: North Carolina posted its third successive win in an ACC opener when it won at #9 Virginia Tech 2-1 on September 19. Each of those three win has come on the road as Carolina opened ACC play with a win at Notre Dame in 2014 and at Virginia Tech in 2013. The Tar Heels have handed the Hokies their only loss of the season to date in 2015.
Joanna Boyles opened the scoring against the Hokies in the first half in a game where there were just 15 total shots between the two teams. After the Hokies equalized less than three minutes into the second half, Carolina got the game winner in the 61st minute from Katie Bowen, her first goal as a Tar Heel since November 2012. Bowen was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week after the victory.
Carolina has gone on to post three more ACC wins over the past two weeks, allowing only 12 shots by Syracuse, Wake Forest and Boston College in 3-1, 1-0 and 2-0 wins, respectively. The win over BC 2-0 on October 2 was the first ACC loss of the season for the Eagles.
TWO KEY NON-CONFERENCE WINS: The Tar Heels ended non-conference play in excellent style by winning at Nebraska on September 11 by a 3-0 score and then winning two days later at home against 2013 NCAA champion UCLA 3-1.
The win at Nebraska highlighted a homecoming game for senior center back Paige Nielsen, a Lincoln, Neb. native. Nielsen assisted on Jessie Scarpa's second half goal and played all 90 minutes as the Tar Heels posted their fifth clean sheet of the season. Dorian Bailey's first career goal and a goal by Emily Bruder put the Heels up 2-0 in the first half.
Returning from Lincoln, the Tar Heels had a quick turnaround before beating 2013 NCAA champion UCLA at Fetzer Field 3-1 on September 13. Summer Green opened the scoring in the 26th minute before sophomore Jessie Scarpa had a second half brace, giving UNC a 2-0 lead and then added an insurance goal in the 85th minute.
CAROLINA EARNS TWO RESULTS IN DUKE NIKE CLASSIC: North Carolina had to fight hard to come away with a 1-0-1 record against California and USC in Duke's Nike Classic on September 4 and 6.
Paige Nielsen was named the defensive Most Valuable Player of the event while Jessie Scarpa and Joanna Boyles were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
UNC fell behind early in both games against the #25 Golden Bears and the #13 Trojans but rallied to earn a 1-1 tie with Cal and win 2-1 against USC.
2014 ACC Rookie of the Year Megan Buckingham, seeing her first action of year coming off a broken collarbone, scored the game-tying goal versus Cal in the 88th minute. UNC also fell behind USC early but got a goal late in the first half from Jessie Scarpa to tie the game and then won on a goal in the 68th minute by junior Sarah Ashley Firstenberg, her third career tally.
TAR HEELS OPEN WITH FOUR STRAIGHT CLEAN SHEETS: North Carolina blanked its first four opponents of the 2015 season, beating Weber State 3-0, Fresno State 7-0, Texas 2-0 and UTSA 5-0.
The last time Carolina opened the season with four straight shutouts was the 2001 season when Carolina did not concede a goal until the sixth game of the season.
FINDING A SCORING TOUCH: Despite having had trouble scoring goals in the past three games, UNC is still well ahead of its scoring pace during the 2014 season.
UNC has scored 35 goals in 15 games to date after scoring only 31 goals in 20 games during the 2014 campaign.
Carolina equaled its goal output from last year when it scored three times against Syracuse in a win on September 24. The Tar Heels then exceeded their 2014 goal total in a 1-0 win at Wake Forest on September 27.
Altogether, UNC scored just 31 goals in 2014 in 20 games, its lowest goal total in a season in history. The previous low total was 44 goals in 2011 in 20 matches.
MOST GOALS SINCE 2010: When UNC scored seven goals against Fresno State on August 23, 2015, it marked the most goals scored by the Tar Heels in a regular-season game in nearly five years. The last time the Tar Heels scored seven goals in a regular-season game was September 17, 2010 when they defeated Middle Tennessee State 7-1 at the Duke Nike Classic in Durham, N.C.
Carolina had scored nine goals in a post-season game during that time when the Tar Heels beat Illinois 9-2 on November 16, 2012 in the NCAA second round en route to winning the national championship that season.
VIDEO COVERAGE THIS WEEKEND: The North Carolina versus Notre Dame game Thursday will be televised live on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. Dean Linke will have the play by play call while Bobby Hundley will handle the color commentary.
Sunday's game versus Clemson will be webcast live on GoHeelsTV Brian Waer will have the play by play call for Sunday's match against the Tigers on GoHeelsTV.
RADIO COVERAGE FOR THURSDAY AND SUNDAY: The matchup between North Carolina and Notre Dame Thursday and the game between North Carolina and Clemson Sunday will air on WCHL Radio (97.9 FM, Chapelboro.com). Paul Connell will handle the play by play for the game with John Stanley on the color commentary.
LIVE STATS FOR THIS WEEKEND: GoHeels.com will feature a live stats link for both Tar Heel games this weekend.
FOLLOW CAROLINA WOMEN'S SOCCER ON TWITTER: Fans will be able to follow Carolina women's soccer through Twitter updates at both @ncwomenssoccer (athletic communications office account) and @uncwomenssoccer (players and staff account). Check during the week, in-game and post-game for live news, videos and links of all your favorite Carolina soccer news. Carolina's Twitter sites have now combined to pass the 29,100 follower mark, the most in college women's soccer.
