University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Faces Stanford In National Semifinal
December 8, 2016 | Men's Soccer
North Carolina (14-3-3) reached its seventh all-time College Cup after earning a thrilling 1-0 victory over Providence last Friday night in a quarterfinal match at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. Drew Murphy scored the only goal of the match in the 102nd minute for the Tar Heels.
Stanford (14-3-4) went on the road and defeated fourth-seed Louisville, 2-0, last Saturday night in Louisville, Kentucky. The Cardinal are the defending national champions and are making the fifth College Cup appearance in school history.
MATCH INFORMATION
• No. 5 seed/#5 Stanford (14-3-4) vs. No. 9 seed/#10 North Carolina (14-3-3)
• Start Time: 8:45 p.m. EST/7:45 p.m. CST
• Location: Houston, Texas / BBVA Compass Stadium
• TV/Live Stream: ESPNU/WatchESPN
Tomorrow, #UNCXI plays Stanford at the NCAA #CollegeCup in Houston @ 8:45pm EST. ️⚽️🐑 Preview of semifinal match: https://t.co/ERSDa2I43q
— UNC Men's Soccer (@UNCmenssoccer) December 8, 2016
NCAA NOTES
• Carolina is making its 24th NCAA postseason appearance in 2016, and the 17th time in the last 18 seasons.
• The Tar Heels have hosted one postseason match at Fetzer Field every season since 2000.
• UNC is a top-16 national seed for the seventh time in the last nine seasons.
• Carolina, 37-19-7 in NCAA Championship history, has won the national title in 2001 and 2011, appeared in six College Cups - including four straight from 2008-11 - and made 10 trips to the NCAA Quarterfinals, most recently in 2014.
• UNC has surrendered one goal or less in 13 of their last 15 NCAA matches going back to the 2011 national title victory over Charlotte.
MOST COLLEGE CUP APPEARANCES SINCE 2008
5 - North Carolina
3 - Akron, Maryland, Virginia, Wake Forest
2 - Creighton, Stanford, UCLA
#UNCXI got to tour @BBVACompassStdm to see where they will face off against 5 Stanford in the NCAA #collegecup in the semi finals on Friday! pic.twitter.com/ADpoaLdIKh
— UNC Men's Soccer (@UNCmenssoccer) December 8, 2016
SERIES HISTORY
Carolina and Stanford went head-to-head in the 2001 national semifinal in Columbus, Ohio. In one of the more thrilling games in program history, the Tar Heels rallied from a 2-0 deficit by scoring a pair of goals in less than a two-minute stretch to send the match into overtime. It was finally settled in the fourth overtime session when Mike Gell scored in the 136th minute of play. In the starting lineup that day in the midfield was Grant Porter, a current assistant coach for North Carolina.
SOMOANO OWNS TOP WIN PERCENTAGE
• Carlos Somoano owns the best winning percentage (.760) among active Division I men's soccer coaches, and is the UNC program leader in winning percentage. He has guided all six of his teams to the NCAA Championship, winning the 2011 title.
COACHES MEET AGAIN
Back in 2011, then first-year head coach Carlos Somoano faced current Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn when he was the head man at Charlotte in the national title match. Ben Speas scored the difference maker in the second half to lift Carolina to its second NCAA title.
BACK-TO-BACK COASTAL CHAMPS
North Carolina was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the ACC Championship this year by virtue of finishing first in the Coastal Division for the second time in as many seasons.
FABULOUS FINAL FOUR
The 2016 College Cup fancies the four clubs possessing the top winning percentage in the country the last three seasons. Denver heads the pack at 79.8 percent (46-9-7), followed by Stanford at 79.4 (45-8-10), North Carolina in third at 77.4 (44-10-8) and Wake Forest is fourth at 75.4 (44-12-7).
ALL-REGION FOURSOME
Cam Lindley earned first team All-South Region honors from the NSCAA, while Walker Hume was a second team selection and both James Pyle and Colton Storm landed on the third team.
NO GOALS ALLOWED
North Carolina has allowed only 10 goals all season long, the fewest in Division I soccer this season. It's also the least number of goals given up by the program since the 2012 club set a school record with seven conceded in 2012.
