University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Heads To Sunshine State For Non-Conference Games
August 25, 2016 | Women's Soccer
CAROLINA HEADS TO FLORIDA FOR PAIR OF NON-CONFERENCE GAMES: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team kicked off its 38th season under the tutelage of head coach Anson Dorrance last weekend when it hosted the annual Carolina Nike Classic at Fetzer Field Friday, August 19 and Sunday, August 21 with four games. Carolina posted a pair of clean sheets in wins over UCF and Charlotte as Dorrance's charges got the season off on the right foot.
After those key wins, Carolina takes to the road for its first away matches of the season, playing a pair of non-conference games in the state of Florida. UNC travels to Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday where it will play the Florida Gulf Coast University (FCGU) Eagles at 7 p.m. The Eagles come into the weekend with a 1-1 record after playing a pair of games last weekend in the San Francisco Bay area. The match will be played at the FGCU Soccer Complex and will be televised nationally on ESPN3.
Carolina will have a travel day on Saturday as it moves across the Sunshine State to Boca Raton, Fla., to face off against the Florida Atlantic University Owls on Sunday at 1 p.m. The match at FAU Soccer Stadium will be webcast on FAUSportsTV. The Owls went 1-1 on the opening weekend of the season and will host Jacksonville on Friday before meeting the Tar Heels on Sunday.
Be sure to check GoHeels.com both Friday and Sunday to view links for both live stats and webcasts for this weekend's games.
UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY: UNC head coach Anson Dorrance has called his team somewhat of a mystery in 2016 as the Tar Heels enter the campaign a talented but more inexperienced unit than in recent years. Carolina lost five of 11 starters off last year's team to graduation (Alexa Newfield, Bryane Heaberlin, Katie Bowen, Summer Green, Paige Nielsen) and three likely starters (Joanna Boyles, Taylor Otto, Jessie Scarp) are red-shirting in 2016 for National Team duties and injury reasons.
More from Dorrance about the 2016 Tar Heels later in these notes.
OPENING WEEKEND PROVIDES SOME ANSWERS: Carolina opened the weekend in the annual Carolina Nike Classic at Fetzer Field on August 19 and 21. The youthful Tar Heels posted a pair of clean sheets, beating UCF 2-0 last Friday and Charlotte 3-0 last Sunday.
Four Tar Heels will be red-shirted this year and were not in the opening weekend lineups. Dorrance played 19 players in the win over the Knights and 20 players in the victory over Charlotte. He used two fairly different starting lineups. Against the Knights, Ru Mucherera started on defense and Darcy McFarlane, Cameron Castleberry and Dorian Bailey started in the midfield. That quartet was replaced on Sunday by Maya Worth in the defense and Bridgette Andrzejewski, Annie Kingman and Abby Elinsky in the midfield.
SUMMING UP THE TWO WINS: Carolina opened the season with a 2-0 win over UCF and a 3-0 win over Charlotte. The Tar Heel defense was exemplary, pitching two clean sheets and limiting its two opponents to 14 shots. Lindsey Harris went the whole way in goal in both games for the Tar Heels, recording two solo shutouts.
Carolina got a pair of goals early and midway through the second half in its win over UCF with Sarah Ashley Firstenberg scoring off an assist by Maya Worth in the 53rd minute and Alex Kimball heading home a corner kick by Annie Kingman in the 64th minute.
In the win over Charlotte, Hanna Gardner headed home an Annie Kingman cross in the seventh minute for the game-winner. All three of Gardner's career goals have been game-winning tallies. She scored two goals as a freshman in 2012, both on headers. One beat Clemson in a regular season matchup and the other beat Penn State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament championship game.
Carolina's other goals against the 49ers came from freshman striker Zoe Redei in the 80th minute (with assists from Alex Kimball and Lindsey Harris) and from Cameron Castleberry on a penalty kick in the 83rd minute.
THE BASICS: Following are the basic facts fans need to know heading into this weekend's games at Fetzer Field.
Friday, August 26
7 p.m. - #9 North Carolina at Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Fla.
Sunday, August 28
1 p.m. - #9 North Carolina at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Fla.
Webcast coverage: Friday's game between UNC and FGCU will be shown on ESPN3/WatchESPN at 7 p.m. Sunday's game between UNC and FAU will be shown on FAUSportsTV.
Live Stats will appear at GoHeels.com and also the websites for FGCU on Friday and FAU on Sunday.
TAR HEEL TICKETS are on sale now for all Carolina home games during the 2016 season. Go to the GoHeels.com Ticket Center to purchase yours now. Tickets are $5 for general admission seating and $3 for groups of 10 or more for each home game this fall. Individual game tickets will also be available on game days at the Carmichael Arena ticket office.
A reminder that UNC students, faculty and staff receive complimentary admission to Tar Heel women's soccer games by showing their UNC One Cards at the Fetzer Field gates.
CONGRATULATIONS COACH DORRANCE: North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance is now in his 38th season as the Tar Heel head coach in 2016. He also served as the head coach of the UNC men's soccer program from 1977 through 1988. So this fall marks the beginning of his 40th season as a UNC head coach.
Dorrance has a shot at achieving his 800th career victory as a women's head coach during the course of this campaign. In his 38 years, his teams have gone 794-63-32. His men's teams at Carolina achieved a record of 172-65-21 in his 12 seasons at the helm.
Altogether, Dorrance's teams have won 966 games in his remarkable coaching tenure in Chapel Hill.
CONCESSION CHANGES AT FETZER FIELD: The University of North Carolina department of athletics and its concessions partner, Aramark Sports and Entertainment, is introducing reduced concessions prices and new outside food and beverage options for all Olympic sports venues for the 2016-17 school year.
Fans can enjoy lower-priced food and beverage options at Olympic sports events including:
$1 – Jr. Tar Heel hot dogs, soft drinks
$2 – Assorted candy
$3 – Jumbo hot dogs, 20 oz. soft drinks, bottled water, jumbo soft pretzels, peanuts, cracker jacks, sunflower seeds
$4 – Buttered popcorn, grande nachos, Dippin' Dots ice cream, frozen lemonade
$5 – 32 oz. souvenir cup soft drinks, Bavarian gourmet soft pretzels, cotton candy
$7 – Bottomless popcorn buckets, Papa John's pizza
$8 – Bojangle's chicken supremes, cheeseburgers and French fries
Fans will also be permitted to bring food and sealed beverages for individual consumption at Anderson Stadium (softball), Boshamer Stadium (baseball), Carmichael Arena (women's basketball, fencing, gymnastics, volleyball, wrestling), Belk Track at Fetzer Field (men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's track and field) and Henry Stadium (field hockey).
• Food items should be wrapped, bagged or left inside a container to avoid spillage.
• Food that might be thrown as a projectile must be sliced or sectioned (i.e., oranges, apples and other fruits).
• Food containers must be soft-sided and small enough to fit under the spectator's seat.
• Non-glass and non-alcoholic beverages, 20 ounces or less and factory-sealed, and soft-sided coolers with the plastic liner removed are permitted.
• All food and beverage containers are subject to inspection.
Carolina Athletics reserves the right to determine what items not listed may be deemed inappropriate for entry. Event management staff members will ask that you return prohibited items to your vehicle or discarded. Prohibited items will not be accepted for storage.
“We are excited to offer more affordable concessions and give our fans the option to bring in their own food and drinks to our Olympic sports venues,” says senior associate director of athletics Rick Steinbacher. “We hope these changes will encourage our fans to attend more events and support our fantastic student-athletes and teams.”
For more information on attending Carolina athletic events, please visit GoHeels.com.
ALL THOSE INJURIES LAST YEAR: A year ago Carolina was undefeated and ranked #1 in the nation when the injury bug start to fell the Tar Heels on what seemed like a weekly basis.
First to go down with an ACL tear was attacking center midfielder Dorian Bailey in the game at Louisville on October 8, a match the Tar Heels lost in overtime 2-1. Bailey's importance to the team cannot be understated. She was voted UNC's rookie player of the year in the post-season and went on to be named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
Three days after Bailey's injury, midfielder Darcy McFarlane tore her ACL in a 1-0 loss at Florida State on October 11.
Two more starting midfielders - Cameron Castleberry and Joanna Boyles - tore their ACLs in practice on November 8.
And to add insult to injury (no pun intended), starting striker Summer Green saw her collegiate career end on November 20 when she tore her ACL just 12 minutes into Carolina's 1-0 NCAA Tournament second round loss to Texas A&M.
Fast forward to this season and three of the four players from last year's injury list were in the starting lineup August 19 when the Tar Heels faced UCF in the season opener, a 2-0 Tar Heel win.
UNC played a 4-2-3-1 formation in its first two games with Cameron Castleberry in the starting role at attacking center midfielder. Darcy McFarlane and Dorian Bailey manned holding center midfield roles with McFarlane on the left side and Bailey on the right side.
In the opener versus the Knights, all three players saw limited minutes with Castleberry playing 33 and McFarlane and Bailey logging 24 minutes. In the win over Charlotte, Dorrance played those three players off the bench and increased the minutes played for the trio. McFarlane played 38 minutes and Castleberry and Bailey played 35 minutes in the win over the 49ers.
Joanna Boyles, an All-ACC honoree the past two years and a rising senior, has chosen to take an injury red-shirt year in 2016 and will return to the Tar Heels in 2017 as a fifth-year red-shirt senior.
TWO TAR HEELS IN U20 CAMPS: Two current members of the Tar Heel roster have been on call up to the United States U20 National Team for camps for most of the 2016 calendar year. Both junior forward Jessie Scarpa and freshman defender Taylor Otto could be starters on that team which will compete for the U20 World Cup title in Papua, New Guinea from November 13-December 3, 2016.
Both Tar Heel players are red-shirting during the 2016 season. The final US U20 roster for the World Cup will be named in October.
SEEKING A FASTER START: One of the keys to Carolina's success this year will be its ability to generate some first half offense. That was an issue for Carolina in 2015 and something Coach Dorrance hopes Carolina has addressed in the off-season.
UNC scored 20 first half goals last season but only scored once in the first half of a game in the last eight games. Carolina was shut out in the first half of seven of its last eight games of 2015 with the only first half goal in that span coming in the third minute of UNC's 2-0 win at Miami on Halloween night. Prior to that, Carolina's last first half goal came against Louisville on October 8.
Carolina hopes the 2016 campaign will yield more early offense for the Tar Heels as this young team looks to gel under Dorrance's leadership. UNC got that early offense when Hanna Gardner tallied in the seventh minute of Carolina's win over Charlotte. However, Gardner's goal was only the second the Tar Heels had tallied in its last 423 minutes of first half action going back to the Louisville game on October 8 of last season.
DORRANCE SCOUTS THE 2016 TAR HEELS: Following are Coach Dorrance's comments on the Tar Heels given to GoHeels.com in July 2016. You can see his updated depth chart heading into the Carolina Nike Classic on page two of the game notes
DORRANCE: “Obviously last year we were devastated by injuries. Before the injuries started, we were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country. Those injuries hurt us a lot. And they may also hurt us this year as many of those players won't be back at 100 percent when the season starts. That's a concern. Another concern is the U.S. U20s taking two of our kids for the season. So honestly this coming fall is a mystery. The following fall we will have a phenomenal team. The fall after we will have a phenomenal team. This season I just don't know to be quite honest. It's how well the injured players come back. It's how well the freshmen are able to adjust to the collegiate level. The freshmen are good. Some of them are incredibly athletic. Some are incredibly technical and tactical. So of all the years I've coach here coming into the season this is the greatest mystery to me.
DORRANCE: “But having said that some of the players coming off the ACLs are looking good. So obviously we are not going to play them maximum minutes but just as we did with Jessie Scarpa her freshman year we phased in her playing time in (10-12-15-20 minutes a half) and that's what we will do again with all these players. By the end of the season Scarpa was playing 80 to 90 minutes a game and was one of the best players on the roster. I think with all of the players we have coming back from the ACLs by the end of this season they will be close to their peak performances from the 2015 season. The question is how we navigate the first part of the season with our rookies who will have to start and our ACLs who will have to come off the bench or play limited minutes. So it's interesting.
DORRANCE: “On the plus side Lindsey Harris could be a fantastic goalkeeper for us. So to have her with us in goal could be a mitigating factor if we are being dominated by an opponent. So she could give us a chance. Her back up is also good (Samantha Leshnak). I think we could be very good in goal. I think we could also be very good in defense. We will have some experience coming back to us in midfield. The mystery is the front line. Who is going to score? Who is going to create our goals. Question is how to replace U20 losses. How do we replace graduation losses?
DORRANCE: “The schedule is a very good one. The swing out west is going to be incredibly difficult. UCLA and USC back to back is going to be an incredibly difficult swing for us. I do like that though because that will allow us to measure who we are and where we need to go in training. Duke will probably have the best team they have ever had in their history this year so playing them early will also be a test for us. UCF coached by one of the all-time UNC greats, Tiffany Roberts, that will be a fantastic challenge for us. She's doing a great job down there. As far as the ACC goes, there will not be a team in the conference that will not give us a run. This is what we are accustomed to. If we do well with this schedule that will put us in a great position in regards to our RPI. It will test us early. It will test us in the middle. And it will test us late. There won't be any part of the year where for two weekends in a row we can kick back and rest on our laurels.
FIRST MEETINGS: North Carolina will be playing two first-time opponents this weekend as it matches up against Florida Gulf Coast on Friday and Florida Atlantic on Sunday.
TOP FIVE RECRUITING CLASS: North Carolina's freshman class was rated as the third-best recruiting class in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer in the fall of 2016. Here's was Top Drawer Soccer had to say about the Tar Heel newcomers.
Commitments: F Zoe Redei (Eclipse SC – No. 3), F/D Taylor Otto (CASL – No. 6), F Bridgette Andrzejewski (Maryland United FC – No. 18), F Madison Schultz (Crossfire Premier – No. 20), F Morgan Goff (CASL – No. 106), D Abby Staker (CASL), F Kasey Parker (South Carolina United FC).
“The Tar Heels announced their seven-player class in May, securing a crop that should be able to supply a couple of starters in the fall. Madison Schultz spent the spring season in Chapel Hill, and is in contention for a starting role in the fall. Taylor Otto was also enrolled early, though she's expected to be with the U20 World Cup squad and miss this season.”
IN THE ACC REGULAR SEASON: In its last 23 ACC regular season games, UNC is 19-3-1. 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. Since then, UNC has posted three ACC wins in a row.
The Tar Heels won their last three games of the 2013 season, went 9-0-1 in 2014 and finished 7-3 in the conference in 2015.
Prior to falling at Louisville, Carolina's last ACC regular season loss had come on October 20, 2013 when Virginia beat the Tar Heels 2-0 at Fetzer Field.
Carolina's three ACC regular season losses in 2015, 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 (2000, 2009, 2012).
Nevertheless, 19 wins and a tie in UNC's last 23 ACC games is a remarkable accomplishment given the parity in the league at this point.
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). Fans can 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 32,500-follower mark, the most in college women's soccer. @uncwomenssoccer has 20,700 followers while @ncwomenssoccer has 11,800 followers.
CURRENT POLLING: Three polls have been issue so far in the 2016 season. UNC was ranked No. 9 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in the preseason poll as well as No. 12 by Top Drawer Soccer and No. 12 by Soccer America.
After a pair of season-opening wins, UNC remained No. 9 in this week's NSCAA poll while moving up to No. 10th in the Top Drawer Soccer poll and No. 11 in the Soccer America ranking.
TAR HEELS PICKED FOURTH IN ACC PRESEASON POLL: Florida State, the winner of the last three Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, is preseason favorite to win yet another ACC title in a vote of the league's 14 head coaches. Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels were picked fourth in the poll.
The Seminoles received nine first-place votes and 191 points, followed by Virginia (three first-place votes, 178 points) and Duke (two first-place votes, 158 points). Florida State won the ACC Tournament last year while Virginia was the ACC regular season champion and Duke reached the NCAA finals.
North Carolina was followed by Clemson, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech. Boston College placed eighth, followed by Wake Forest, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, NC State and Miami.
The ACC's top seven teams in the preseason poll are also ranked in the top 17 of the NSCAA's Preseason Top 25 poll.
ACC women's soccer teams begin preseason training this week and will kick off the 2016 season on Friday, Aug. 19. The top eight teams in the final league standings will advance to the ACC Championship, which will get underway with quarterfinal matches at campus sites on Sunday, Oct. 30. The semifinals and final are scheduled for Nov. 4 and Nov. 6 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
Preseason ACC Coaches Poll
1. Florida State (191 points, 9 first place votes)
2. Virginia (178 points, 3 first place votes)
3. Duke (158 points, 2 first place votes)
4. North Carolina (155 points)
5. Clemson (140 points)
6. Notre Dame (128 points)
7. Virginia Tech (122 points)
8. Boston College (96 points)
9. Wake Forest (74 points)
10. Louisville (63 points)
11. Pitt (59 points)
12. Syracuse (50 points)
13. NC State (29 points)
14. Miami (27 points)
16 TAR HEELS ON NWSL OPENING DAY ROSTERS IN 2016: The National Women's Soccer League began its fourth season this past spring with 16 University of North Carolina alumni on the opening weekend rosters.
Three Tar Heels - Brooke Elby, Alexa Newfield and Katie Bowen - were all in their first years in the league. The league began with 10 teams in 2016 with the addition of the Orlando Pride as an expansion team.
The league has seen a lot of shifting in the past year on their rosters with 44 percent of the players on opening day rosters new to their teams.
Here is a rundown of the Tar Heels in the NWSL in 2016.
BOSTON BREAKERS
Brooke Elby, Defender, last played at UNC in 2014. Played last year for Melbourne City in Australia. NWSL Rookie.
Whitney Engen, Defender, last played at UNC in 2009. Played formerly for Western New York Flash. Member of U.S. National Team at 2015 World Cup.
Rachel Wood, Defender, last played at UNC in 2010. Played last year for Boston Breakers.
HOUSTON DASH
Amber Brooks, Midfielder, last played at UNC in 2012. Played last year for Seattle Reign.
Kealia Ohai, Forward, last played at UNC in 2013. Played last year for Houston Dash.
FC KANSAS CITY
Katie Bowen, Defender, last played at UNC in 2015. Member of New Zealand National Team at 2015 World Cup. NWSL Rookie.
Alexa Newfield, Midfielder, last played at UNC in 2015. NWSL Rookie.
Heather O'Reilly, Midfielder, last played at UNC in 2006. Member of U.S. National Team at 2015 World Cup.
Yael Averbuch, Midfielder, last played at UNC in 2008. Played last year for FC Kansas City.
SEATTLE REIGN FC
Kendall Fletcher, Defender, last played at UNC in 2005. Played last year for Seattle Reign FC.
ORLANDO PRIDE
Ashlyn Harris, Goalkeeper, last played at UNC in 2009. Member of the U.S. National Team at 2015 World Cup. Last played for Washington Spirit.
PORTLAND THORNS
Meghan Klingenberg, Defender, last played at UNC in 2010. Member of the U.S. National Team at 2015 World Cup. Last played for Houston Dash.
Tobin Heath, Midfielder, last played at UNC in 2009. Member of the U.S. National Team at 2015 World Cup.
Allie Long, Midfielder, last played at UNC in 2008. Played last year for Portland Thorns.
WASHINGTON SPIRIT
Crystal Dunn, Forward, last played at UNC in 2013. Played last year for Washington Spirit.
WESTERN NEW YORK FLASH
Jessica McDonald, Forward, last played at UNC in 2009. Played last year for Houston Dash.
EIGHT FORMER TAR HEELS COMPETE AT 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES: The gold medal game for the 2016 Olympic Games will be contested Friday evening between Sweden and Germany. The Swedes are the upstart of the tournament, having elminated four-time Olympic Champion USA in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks and then doing the same to host Brazil in the semifinals.
This marks the first time in history a gold medal game will be contested with no Tar Heels on the field.
UCF head coach Tiffany Roberts and Duke assistant coach Carla Overbeck were both members of the first gold medal team in 1996 in Atlanta.
Nevertheless, eight former Tar Heel players were part of the Olympic Tournament in Brazil this month.
The full U.S. squad included five players from the University of North Carolina. Two former Tar Heels were also named as alternates for the team. The New Zealand team featured recent graduate Katie Bowen, who also was on the roster for the Football Ferns at the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
Full team members in 2016 were defenders Whitney Engen and Meghan Klingenberg, midfielders Allie Long and Tobin Heath and forward Crystal Dunn. Alternates, who traveled to Rio de Janeiro and practiced with the team were midfielder Heather O'Reilly and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.
O'Reilly was a member of U.S. Teams which won gold medals in 2004 in Athens, 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. Heath was a member of both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Teams. Klingenberg was an alternate on the team in London. Engen, Long and Harris all traveled to Olympic Games for the first time in their Team USA careers.
Altogether, UNC has had 30 selections to the full rosters for U.S. Olympic Teams in the six Games, beginning in 1996 The U.S. won gold medals in 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012 and the silver medal in 2000.
North Carolina led all universities in representation on this year's team with five full roster players and two alternates. Virginia had two on the full roster and one alternate. Penn State and Stanford had two players each on the team. UCLA had one full roster player and one alternate. Washington, Santa Clara, Portland, California and Rutgers had one player each. Lindsey Horan who went straight to the professional ranks in 2012 after her high school career, also competed for the U.S. side.
RALLYING FROM A TWO-GOAL DEFICIT: North Carolina rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to defeat Notre Dame on September 20, 2014 in South Bend, Ind.
The Tar Heels came back from a two-goal deficit to win for the first time since September 1, 2006 when UNC trailed Connecticut 2-0 at halftime but rallied to win 3-2 in regulation at New Haven, Conn.
Carolina has played 887 matches in its history. There have been only 23 games in that time in which the Tar Heels have ever trailed by more than a single goal in a game.
The Notre Dame comeback marked the fifth time UNC has rallied from two goals down to win. The Tar Heels have accomplished the feat against Santa Clara in 1993, Duke in 1999, NC State in 2003, Connecticut in 2006 and Notre Dame in 2014.
TAR HEELS IN ACC OPENERS: North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech 2-1 in Blacksburg, Va. on September 19 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. The Tar Heels improved to 24-3-1 overall in conference openers with the win over the Hokies.
Carolina's losses in ACC openers came at Maryland 2-1 on September 13, 2012, against Boston College in Chapel Hill 3-2 on September 23, 2010 and at NC State 2-1 on September 10, 2002. UNC also tied its ACC opener at NC State 1-1 on September 20, 1988.
TAR HEELS IN THE CAROLINA NIKE CLASSIC: On the opening weekend of the 2016 season, Carolina swept a pair of games in the Carolina Nike Classic as the Tar Heels beat UCF 2-0 and Charlotte 3-0.
UNC has now hosted a version of the Carolina Nike Classic, under the current name or the names of other title sponsors, since the initial event in 1980 a total of 26 times.
Carolina has a 47-3-2 record in its early season tournaments at home. The only losses were to Penn State in 1999, Notre Dame in 2008 and Stanford in 2014 with ties against Stanford in 2010 and Florida in 2012.
JUST THRICE SINCE 1986: Carolina's 2-0 setback against Virginia on November 7, 2014 marked only the third loss for the Tar Heels by a margin of more than one goal in the past 742 games.
That streak traced back to the opening game of the 1986 season against George Mason.
After losing to George Mason 2-0 in the 1985 NCAA Tournament championship game, the Tar Heels went 25 years without losing a game by more than one goal.
Since that time, UNC has only lost three games by more than one goal. The Tar Heels fell to Notre Dame 4-1 on November 20, 2010, lost to Virginia 2-0 on October 20, 2013 and was upended by the Cavaliers 2-0 on November 7, 2014.
DID YOU KNOW...: North Carolina would have to lose its next 741 games in a row for Head Coach Anson Dorrance to have a .500 coaching winning percentage in his career at the helm of the Tar Heels.
UNC enters this Friday's game versus FGCU with an all-time record of 794-63-32. Dorrance has coached the Tar Heels in all 889 of their games.
DID YOU KNOW, PART 2...: When North Carolina lost to Notre Dame 1-0 on September 15, 2013 and to Florida State 1-0 on September 18, 2013, it marked the first time since October 16, 1982 and October 17, 1982 that the Tar Heels had lost back-to-back games in regulation time.
The Tar Heels lost to Missouri-St. Louis 2-1 on October 16, 1982 and to Cortland State 2-1 on October 17, 1982 with both games being played at the UCF Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
It took another 31 years for the Tar Heels to lose back-to-back games in regulation time.
The dubious fate happened again to Carolina last season as the Tar Heels fell to Florida State and Duke in back-to-back ACC games by 1-0 scores on October 11 and October 16.
CAROLINA IN SEASON OPENERS: Carolina has a record of 31-5-2 all-time in season openers after beating UCF 2-0 in Chapel Hill to open the 2016 campaign. The only losses were in 1983 vs. Connecticut (road), 2006 vs.Texas A&M (road), 2007 vs. South Carolina (home), 2012 vs. Portland (road) and 2014 vs. Stanford (home) and ties in 1985 vs. George Mason (home) and 2002 vs. Nebraska (road).
UNC IN HOME OPENERS: North Carolina has a record of 33-2-3 in home openers all-time after beating UCF 2-0 on August 19, 2016.
The only losses came to South Carolina 1-0 in 2007 and to Stanford 1-0 in overtime in 2014 and the ties were against George Mason in 1985, against Stanford in 2010 and against Florida in 2012.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: UNC heads into its match against FGCU with a record of 794-63-32 overall, a winning percentage of .911.
AVERAGE RECORD PER YEAR: UNC's average record per year in its 38 years of soccer is 21.35 wins per year, 1.64 losses per year and 0.86 ties per year.
SHUTOUTS ARE INFREQUENT: UNC's 1-0 loss against Texas A&M on November 20, 2016 was only the 46th time the Tar Heels have been shut out in their history. Altogether, UNC has played 889 matches since 1979.
They have been blanked on the scoreboard in only 0.50 percent of the games they have played in during their history. Carolina has suffered 35 shutout losses in its history. The Tar Heels have also played 11 scoreless ties in their history history.
Only four times in UNC history have the Tar Heels been shutout in back-to-back games in the same season.
That happened against Portland and Florida in 2012, against Notre Dame and Florida State in 2013, against UCLA and Pepperdine in 2014 and against Florida State and Duke in 2015.
17 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAS SINCE 2005: On November 26, 2013, UNC junior defender Caitlin Ball of Chapel Hill, N.C. was chosen as a first-team Academic All-America by Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America.
UNC has had 17 selections for the Capital One Academic All-America first, second and third teams since 2005.
Carolina also had seven women's soccer players named Academic All-Americas from 1983-2001, giving the program 24 selections since the Academic All-America program began in 1983. Academic All-Americas were chosen for women's soccer in an at-large pool from 1983-2004. In 2005, a specific women's soccer academic All-America Team was selected by Capital One and CoSIDA.
Following is a summary of the 24 selections since 1983.
•1983 - Lauren Gregg, third team.
•1985 - Beth Huber, second team.
•1993 - Shelley Finger, second team.
•1994 - Shelley Finger, first team.
•1998 - Cindy Parlow, first team.
•2000 - Lindsay Stoecker, second team.
•2001 - Kristin DePlatchett, first team.
•2005 - Heather O'Reilly, second team; Lindsay Tarpley, third team.
•2006 - Heather O'Reilly, first team (Academic All-America of the Year); Anna Rodenbough, second team; Yael Averbuch, third team.
•2007 - Yael Averbuch, second team; Anna Rodenbough, second team.
•2008 - Kristi Eveland, first team; Yael Averbuch, first team (Academic All-America of the Year); Anna Rodenbough, second team.
•2009 - Kristi Eveland, first team; Whitney Engen, second team; Ashlyn Harris, second team.
•2011 - Adelaide Gay, first team; Amber Brooks, second team.
•2012 - Amber Brooks, first team.
•2013 - Caitlin Ball, first team.
17 TAR HEELS NAMED TO ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL IN 2015-16: An all-time high 356 University of North Carolina student-athletes were named to the 2015-16 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll, announced July 7, 2016 by the league.
Seventeen of the Tar Heels' 356 student-athletes represented Coach Anson Dorrance's women's soccer team. In fact, 17 of the 31 members of the team in 2015 qualified for Honor Roll status.
The ACC Academic Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. UNC's previous high was 347 Tar Heels honored in 2013-14.
UNC women's soccer players on the Honor Roll are as follows (number of times named to ACC HR indicated in parentheses).
Julia Ashley (1), Dorian Bailey (1), Katie Bowen (1), Joanna Boyles (3), Megan Buckingham (2), Cameron Castleberry (3), Nicole Crutchfield (1), Sarah Ashley Firstenberg (1), Hanna Gardner (1), Annie Kingman (2), Darcy McFarlane (3), Kate Morris (1), Alexa Newfield (1), Paige Nielsen (4), Frances Reuland (1), Jessie Scarpa (2), Maya Worth (1)
This year's total of 4,367 student-athletes honored was a record for the ACC in the 60th-annual edition of the list.
FOUR TAR HEELS TAPPED FOR ALL-ACC ACADEMIC TEAM: The University of North Carolina's 2015 women's soccer team placed four players on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team.
Junior midfielder Joanna Boyles, a second-team All-ACC selection last fall, was named to the All-Academic Team for the second straight year. The business administration major from Raleigh, N.C., was joined on the All-ACC Academic Team by first-time honorees Paige Nielsen, Alexa Newfield and Dorian Bailey.
Nielsen (Lincoln, Neb.), a finalist for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award, majored in business administration and started on defense last fall for Carolina. Two other Tar Heels also made the team, freshman midfielder Dorian Bailey, a Kansas City native, made the team in her first season. She was a starter the first half of the year before suffering a knee injury.
Alexa Newfield, from Atlanta, was the fourth Tar Heel to make the squad. UNC's leading goal scorer in 2015, the forward made the team for the first time. She is a communications major. Newfield was named third-team All-ACC last November.
The four Tar Heel selections were the most on the team since 2012 when Amber Brooks, Adelaide Gay, Kealia Ohai and Kelly McFarlane were all chosen.
TAR HEELS IN THE ACC: Parity arrived in the Atlantic Coast Conference many years ago and yet the Tar Heels have lost only 24 ACC regular-season games since league play began in 1987.
The Tar Heels are 185-24-7 all-time in ACC regular-season matches after opening its 2015 ACC season with a 6-3 ACC record.
UNC has averaged just 0.83 ACC regular-season losses a year in the 29 years of league play.
Earlier this season the Tar Heels had a three-match ACC regular-season losing streak, the first time that has happened in history.
Prior to this streak, UNC had fallen in back-to-back ACC games four times in history.
The four occasions were October 23, 2011 at Virginia Tech (0-1) and October 27, 2011 at Maryland (1-2 in overtime); October 22, 2009 at Florida State (2-3 in two overtimes) and October 25, 2009 at Miami (0-1); and October 17, 2000 at Florida State (2-3 in double overtime) and October 27, 2000 at Wake Forest (0-1); Notre Dame (0-1) on September 18, 2015 and at Florida State (0-1) on September 21, 2013.
Remarkably, in three of the past six seasons, UNC had a losing record in ACC play at one point in the season. The Tar Heels started the 2010 season 0-1 in the ACC, the 2012 season 1-2-1 in the ACC and the 2013 season 1-2 in the ACC. The only other time in history when UNC had a losing record in ACC regular-season play in its history was 2002 when the Tar Heels lost their season opener to NC State.
