Tar Heels Look To Clinch ACC Regular Season Title Sunday

Sunday, October 21

Cary, N.C. (WakeMed Soccer Park)

1 p.m.

North Carolina

Miami

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 20, 2018 | Women's Soccer

Watch Live on ACC Network Extra Live Stats 2018 Statistics Senior CLASS Award Voting Media Guide (pdf)

UNC and Miami meet at 1 p.m.

By: Dave Lohse

CAROLINA HOSTS MIAMI SUNDAY LOOKING TO CLINCH ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team continues its 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference season with a match against the Miami Hurricanes Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Admission to the match and parking at WakeMed Soccer Park are free of charge.
After beating 11^th-ranked Boston College 1-0 last Thursday at WakeMed Soccer Park. the Tar Heels need just one more victory to clinch the regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference championship outright for the first time since 2010. UNC will get the first crack at getting that victory on Sunday against the Hurricanes. The Tar Heels finish the regular season on Thursday against Wake Forest at 6 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The match between the Tar Heels and the Hurricanes will be nationally televised on ACC Network Extra with Brian Waer on the play-by-play call. Live stats will be available on GoHeels.com
ACC Network Extra Link
Live Stats Link

SCOUTING THE ACC RACE: North Carolina enters Sunday's match against Miami atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with an 8-0-0 record. Three teams are still in the chase to finish atop the league standings. Three points are awarded for a victory in conference play and one point for a tie. UNC leads the league with 24 points while Duke is second with 19 points at 6-1-1 and Virginia is third with 18 points at 6-2-0-.

SEEKING FIRST CONFERENCE OUTRIGHT CROWN SINCE 2010: A win over Miami Sunday would clinch Carolina's first outright ACC regular season championship since 2010 when the Tar Heels finished league play with a mark of 8-2-0. In 2014, UNC shared first place in the ACC regular season with a mark of 9-0-1 with Florida State. Both teams went undefeated in conference play that year and fought each other to a 1-1 tie during the regular season at Fetzer Field.

RUSSO'S EARLY GOAL LIFTS TAR HEELS PAST BOSTON COLLEGE: Third-ranked North Carolina and 11^th-ranked Boston College competed in what seemed like a post-season atmosphere last Thursday afternoon at WakeMed Soccer Park with the Tar Heels prevailing 1-0 and in the process inching closer to clinching its first undisputed conference regular-season championship since 2010.
Alessia Russo scored off a turnover just 5:18 into the match and it held up for the game-winner in a match in which both teams threatened the add to the scoreboard up to the final whistle.
The Tar Heels scored the game-winning goal in the game's sixth minute as Russo notched her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Boston College goalkeeper Alexis Bryant mishit her goal kick and Russo ran on to the ball about 28 yards from the goal, dribbled into the box and finished craftily into the lower right corner as Bryant came out to cut down the angle.
Moments later Samantha Leshnak made a save on a shot by Sam Coffey, one of only two shots by BC that was on frame in the match despite the fact the Eagles took 12 shots overall. Both teams attacked each others' goal frames with gusto for the remainder of the half with BC taking six first half shots and North Carolina taking eight. At 17:35, Olivia Vaughn almost earned the equalizer as her shot from in the box on the left side clanged off the cross bar. Her rebound eight seconds later was blocked as UNC dodged a bullet and held on to its lead.
In the second half, the Tar Heels had seven shots on goal to six for BC. In the second half, despite being constantly peppered, Leshnak had to make only one save officially, stopping a shot by Jenna Bike just three minutes into the second half. Bryant made two second-half saves on shots by Russo and another on an attempt by Rachel Jones. Carolina was eventually able to celebrate its victory after a last gasp effort by the Eagles' Kayla Duran flew high of the goal with 21 seconds to play.
Altogether, UNC outshot the Eagles 15-12, including a margin of 5-2 in shots on goal. The Tar Heels had eight corner kicks in the match in comparison to two for the Eagles. UNC was charged with 10 fouls and Carolina just six.
Alexis Bryant played all 90 minutes in goal for BC, making four saves and allowing just the one goal. She is now 13-2-1 on the season. Samantha Leshnak improved her goalkeeper record to 8-0-0 overall, playing all 90 minutes and making two saves. She now has three solo shutouts this season.
UNC improved to 18-1 overall against Boston College and has won seven straight games in the series. This was the fifth time in those seven games that Carolina has prevailed by a 1-0 margin.
RUSSO'S KNACK FOR GAME WINNERS: North Carolina sophomore forward Alessia Russo scored her sixth goal of the season in Thursday's win over Boston College.
In her two seasons as a Tar Heel, Russo has scored 15 career goals. Ten of those goals have been game-winning tallies. Russo scored nine goals as a freshman in 2017 with six of those being game-winning tallies. Of Russo's six goals in 2018, four have been game-winners.

LESHNAK CONTINUES STELLAR PLAY: Samantha Leshnak and Claudia Dickey have split time in goal for the Tar Heels in 2018. Leshnak has played 855 minutes and Dickey has played 606 minutes. Leshnak has posted solo shutouts in the past two games against Virginia Tech and Boston College.
Leshnak currently has a goals against average of 0.21, the third best season goals against average in UNC history. She has not allowed a goal in 763 minutes dating back to the third game of the season against Texas when she surrendered in the second minute of the match. Leshnak's save percentage of .917 also ranks as the third best in a season in UNC history.

UNC VERSUS MIAMI: The match Sunday will be the 16^th in history between the Tar Heels and the Hurricanes. Carolina leads the all-time series 13-2 and has won eight in a row over the Hurricanes dating back to 2010.

TAR HEELS FINISH UNDEFEATED ON ROAD IN ACC PLAY: North Carolina completed its ACC regular-season schedule undefeated in road games for the second straight year. With a 2-0 win at Virginia Tech on October 13, Carolina improved to 5-0 in ACC road games this season. This marks the second straight year that Carolina has gone undefeated in ACC road games. The Tar Heels were 6-0 on the road a year ago.
It was also the fourth time this decade UNC has gone unbeaten in ACC road games. They have accomplished that feat in 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2018.

SCOUTING THE TEAMS: North Carolina enters Sunday's match with a record of 13-2-1 overall and 8-0-0 in the ACC. The Tar Heels have won eight matches in a row. UNC is 6-0-1 at home this season.
Miami is 5-8-3 overall and 2-5-1 in league play. The Hurricanes are 2-4-2 away from home this year and 0-2-1 in their last three matches.
Carolina is ranked third this week by the United Soccer Coaches and Soccer America and second by Top Drawer Soccer.

IN THE RPI: North Carolina is ranked No. 4 in this week's NCAA RPI. The Tar Heels have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation so far, facing multiple Top 50 RPI teams including #1 Stanford #7 Florida State, #8 Santa Clara, #11 Texas, #16 Boston College, #40 Virginia Tech, #41 Louisville, #42 Clemson, #45 Illinois, #48 Ohio State and #49 Notre Dame. The Tar Heels will meet Wake Forest, #25 in the RPI, on Thursday.

CAROLINA MOVES REMAINDER OF REGULAR SEASON HOME GAMES TO CARY, N.C.: The University of North Carolina women's soccer program announced October 10 that the remainder of the Tar Heels' 2018 home regular season women's soccer games will be played in Cary, N.C. at WakeMed Soccer Park's Koka Booth Stadium.
The Tar Heels had played their first four home games in Chapel Hill at Finley Fields South in August but damage to the field in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence forced the Pitt and Louisville games to be played in Cary in the month of September.
Finley Fields have not improved to the extent where games could be played there in the near future so the decision was made to move the remainder of the home regular season games to WakeMed Soccer Park's Koka Booth Stadium.
REMAINING WOMEN'S SOCCER HOME REGULAR SEASON GAMES
Sunday, October 21, 1 p.m. vs. Miami - WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.
Thursday, October 25, 6 p.m. (NEW TIME previous was 3 p.m.) - vs. Wake Forest, WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.
POTENTIAL GAME – Sunday, October 28, 1 p.m. in quarterfinals of ACC Tournament (if Carolina's ends regular season as one of top four seeds in ACC regular season standings), WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C.

ASHLEY NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST: Ten NCAA® women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as finalists for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer on October 17. University of North Carolina senior defender Julia Ashley of Verona, N.J., is amongst the 10 women who have been named as finalists for the award
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Women's College Cup® championships in December.
CAST YOUR BALLOT FOR JULIA ASHLEY IN THE SENIOR CLASS AWARD FAN VOTING

UNC EARNS TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD FROM UNITED SOCCER COACHES: United Soccer Coaches announced on October 6 the Team Academic Award winners at the high school and collegiate levels to recognize exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2017-18 academic year. The University of North Carolina women's soccer team, coached by Anson Dorrance, was amongst the 484 women's programs nationwide to earn the award.
The College Team Academic Award recipients are active members of the United Soccer Coaches College Services Program with a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster.

TAR HEEL ALUMNA PARLOW INDUCTED INTO NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME SATURDAY EVENING: The U.S. Soccer National Hall of Fame announced May 31 that Cindy Parlow, UNC Class of 1999, has been selected for induction in the Hall's 2018 class. Parlow was inducted into the Hall of Fame yesterday in Frisco, Texas with UNC head coach Anson Dorrance giving her induction speech.
Parlow played at Carolina from 1995-98. She was a three-time National Player of the Year selection, two-time NCAA champion and two-time College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America during her career. She played on the U.S. National Team for nine years, retiring in 2004 after winning the 1999 World Cup championship and 1996 and 2004 Olympic gold medals. Since 2005 she has been a successful coach on the collegiate, professional and club level with stops all across the United States. After starting for four years at forward for the Tar Heels from 1995-98, the midfielder was a key player on the U.S. Women's National Team during a remarkable stretch of years in which the program was establishing itself as a one of the best in the world. She was the youngest member of the Olympic gold medal-winning team in 1996 and also played at the 2000 Summer Games when the U.S. won a silver medal. Most notably though, she was a part of the team that would win the 1999 FIFA World Cup and scored two goals in that historic tournament, including the first in a 2-0 semifinal victory against Brazil in front of 73,123 fans at the old Stanford Stadium.
Parlow served as the head coach of the Portland Thorns in 2013. She led the Thorns to the inaugural National Women's Soccer League title that year after serving as an assistant coach at Carolina from 2006-12. When she wrapped up her international career in 2004, Parlow had played for the USA 158 times. Prior to that, she scored 68 goals for the Tar Heels which she led to back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997 and won the Herrmann Trophy as the nation's top player in 1997 and 1998. She was also named the 1998 U.S. Soccer Young Female of the Year.
Parlow had a decorated history with the U.S. Women's National Team. She retired as the squad's fifth all-time leading scorer during an era in which she helped the U.S. women win the World Cup in 1999 and claim third place in 2003. Her 158 caps and 75 goals also earned her two Olympic gold medals and a silver medal and, to this day, she remains the youngest soccer player, male or female, to win an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup. Parlow also served on the coaching staff for the U.S. U-14 & U-15 Girls' National Teams from 2010-2013.

CAROLINA'S BALANCED SCORING UNIT: In 16 games this season, UNC has scored 35 goals, passed for 45 assists and accounted for 115 points overall.
The 35 goals have been scored by 14 different players with Alessia Russo leading the way with six.
Eighteen players have accounted for the 45 assists, led by Taylor Otto's five.
The 115 points have been accounted for by 21 different players with Alessia Russo leading the way with 16 points.

CONGRATULATIONS NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE: The entire state of North Carolina celebrated the victory by the North Carolina Courage in the 2018 National Women's Soccer League championship game on September 22. The Courage defeated the home standing Portland Thorns 3-0 in the championship game.
Four members of the Courage were Carolina alumnae - Heather O'Reilly, Class of 2007, Merritt Mathias, Class of 2012, Jessica McDonald, Class of 2011, and Crystal Dunn, Class of 2014.
McDonald was named the Most Valuable Player of the NWSL championship game after scoring two goals in the 3-0 victory over Portland.

NWSL BEST XI HONOREES: Three former University of North Carolina players were named to the Best XI squads for 2018 as named by the National Women's Soccer League.
Portland Thorns FC midfielder Tobin Heath and North Carolina Courage forward Crystal Dunn were both named to the first team while North Carolina Courage defender Merritt Mathias was named to the second team.

TWO TAR HEELS NAMED TO MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST: United Soccer Coaches and the Missouri Athletic Club has announced the 45 NCAA Division I women's soccer players named to the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, presented by World Wide Technology.
The University of North Carolina has two representatives on the women's 45-member watch list. The Tar Heel duo is senior defender Julia Ashley of Verona, N.J., who is now in her fourth year as a starter at right back for the Tar Heels, and sophomore forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England, who was the 2017 ACC Freshman of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the 2017 ACC Tournament.
The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. This year's winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
The MAC Hermann Trophy Watch Lists are compiled by members of the United Soccer Coaches Men's and Women's NCAA Division I All-America Committees. Fifteen semifinalists will be named for both the men's and women's MAC Hermann Trophy near the end of the college season based on voting by NCAA Division I coaches and from those candidates, three finalists will ultimately be placed on the ballot for the coveted award.

TAR HEELS FAVORED TO WIN 2018 ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina was named the preseason favorite to win another conference title in a vote of the league's 14 head coaches. The ACC Office in Greensboro released the preseason poll on August 6.
The 21-time ACC champion Tar Heels received four first-place votes and 183 points, followed by Florida State (five first-place votes, 174 points), Virginia (two first-place votes, 173 points) and Duke (three first-place votes, 151 points). Duke won last year's regular season championship at 10-0 while North Carolina finished second at 8-0-2. The second-seeded Tar Heels defeated the top-seeded Blue Devils 1-0 in the 2017 ACC Tournament championship game in Charleston, S.C.
In the 2018 preseason balloting, NC State placed fifth in the voting, followed by Clemson, Notre Dame, Wake Forest and Louisville. Boston College placed 10th followed by Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Miami and Pitt.
North Carolina sophomore forward Alessia Russo was named to the 2018 preseason All-ACC women's soccer team. She was first-team All-ACC last year as well as the co-Freshman of the Year in the conference and the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 ACC women's soccer tournament.
2018 Preseason All-ACC Women's Soccer Team
Samantha Coffey, So., M, Boston College
Sam Staab, Sr., D, Clemson
Kayla McCoy, Sr., F, Duke
Ella Stevens, Jr., M, Duke
Deyna Castellanos, Jr., F, Florida State
Natalia Kuikka, Sr., D., Florida State
Emina Ekic, So., M, Louisville
Alessia Russo, So., F, North Carolina
Tziarra King, Jr., F, NC State
Taryn Torres, So., M, Virginia
Mandy McGlynn, Jr., GK, Virginia Tech
Preseason ACC Coaches Poll
North Carolina (183, 4 first place votes)
Florida State (174, 5 first place votes)
Virginia (173, 2 first-place votes)
Duke (151, 3 first-place votes)
NC State (144)
Clemson (120)
Notre Dame (111)
Wake Forest (104)
Louisville (75)
Boston College (72)
Virginia Tech (66)
Syracuse (40)
Miami (34)
Pitt (23)
ACC women's soccer teams will kick off the 2018 season on Thursday, Aug. 16. 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. 28. The semifinals and final are scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 4 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

TRIO OF TAR HEELS COMPETE IN FIFA U20 WORLD CUP: A total of three current University of North Carolina women's soccer players competed at the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup held Aug. 5-24 in the Brittany region of northwestern France.
Sophomore midfielder Emily Fox and freshman midfielder Brianna Pinto represnted the U.S. team at the competition. The American side went 1-1-1 in group play and did not advance to the quarterfinal round. Fox and Pinto flew home from France and rejoined their teammates for practice on Wednesday, August 15.
Sophomore forward Alessia Russo competed for the British side which won its group. England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the quarterfinal round on Monday, August 20. After falling to Japan in the semifinals, the English will defeated France in penalty kicks for the bronze medal.
Fox also played on the U.S. U20 Team two years ago in 2016 when she was a high school senior. That squad which also included current UNC players Jessie Scarpa, a redshirt senior forward, and Taylor Otto, a redshirt sophomore forward.

CONSISTENCY, STATISTICAL ANOMALY OR JUST VERY GOOD?: North Carolina enters Sunday's match against Miami with an all-time winning percentage of .903 dating back to the program's first year in 1979.
The fact is that UNC's program under the direction of head coach Anson Dorrance has been remarkably consistent in his 40 years as head coach regardless of where or when the Tar Heels took the pitch.
Under Dorrance, UNC has won 90.3 percent of its games overall, 87.2 percent of its ACC regular-season games, 89.9 percent of its ACC Tournament games, 89.9 percent of its NCAA Tournament games, 91.2 percent of its home games and 89.7 percent of its road and neutral site games.

TAR HEELS ELECT TEAM CAPTAINS: The North Carolina women's soccer team has elected three players as team captains for the 2018 campaign. The captains are graduate student and midfielder Annie Kingman of Woodside, Calif., senior defender Julia Ashley of Verona, N.J. and redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Otto of Apex, N.C.

FOLLOW CAROLINA WOMEN'S SOCCER ON TWITTER: Fans are 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 to all your favorite Carolina soccer news. Carolina's Twitter sites have now combined to total an amazing 40,500 followers, the most in college women's soccer. @uncwomenssoccer has over 23,000 followers while @ncwomenssoccer has over 17,500 followers.

JUST FOUR TIMES SINCE 1986: Carolina's 3-0 setback at USC on September 11, 2016 marked only the fourth loss for the Tar Heels by a margin of more than one goal since the 1985 season.
Carolina has played 802 games since the end of the 1985 season, losing by more than one goal just four times.
That streak traces back to the opening game of the 1986 season against George Mason, a 3-3 tie.
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 before that streak ended in 2010.
Since 1986, UNC has only lost four games by more than one goal. Two of those four losses have come against Virginia. The Tar Heels fell to Notre Dame 4-1 on November 20, 2010, lost to Virginia 2-0 on October 20, 2013, was upended by Virginia 2-0 on November 7, 2014 and lost to USC 3-0 on September 11, 2016.

DID YOU KNOW...: North Carolina would have to lose its next 777 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 Sunday's game against Miami with an all-time record of 839-72-39. Dorrance has coached the Tar Heels in all 950 of their games.

THE ALL-TIME RECORD: UNC heads into its match against Miami with a record of 839-72-39 overall, a winning percentage of .903. The Tar Heels have an all-time winning percentage of .899 in NCAA Tournament games, almost the exact same winning percentage in the most important games it plays every year.

AVERAGE RECORD PER YEAR: UNC's average record per year in its 40 years of soccer is 21.15 wins per year, 1.77 losses per year and 1.0 ties per year.

SHUTOUTS ARE INFREQUENT: UNC's 1-0 loss against Santa Clara on September 7, 2018 was only the 55th time the Tar Heels have been shut out in their history. Altogether, UNC has played 950 matches since 1979.
The Tar Heels have been blanked on the scoreboard in only 5.5 percent of the games they have played in during their history. Carolina has suffered 41 shutout losses in its history. The Tar Heels have also played 14 scoreless ties in their history history.
Only five 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, against Florida State and Duke in 2015 and against USC and NC State in 2016.

TAR HEELS IN THE ACC: Parity arrived in the Atlantic Coast Conference many years ago and yet the Tar Heels have lost only 26 ACC regular-season games since league play began in 1987.
The Tar Heels are 207-26-11 all-time in ACC regular-season matches. The Tar Heels earned their 200th all-time ACC regular season victory on September 14 when they won at Florida State 1-0.
UNC has averaged just 0.8 ACC regular-season losses a year in the 32 years of league play.
In the middle of the 2015 season, the Tar Heels had a three-match ACC regular-season losing streak, the first time that has happened in history.
Prior to that streak, UNC had fallen in back-to-back ACC games just four times in history.
The four occasions were September 18, 2013 home versus Notre Dame (0-1) and September 21, 2013 at Florida State (0-1); 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); October 17, 2000 at Florida State (2-3 in double overtime) and October 27, 2000 at Wake Forest (0-1).
Remarkably, in four of the past nine seasons, UNC had a losing record in ACC play at one point in the campaign. The Tar Heels started the 2010 season 0-1 in the ACC, the 2012 season 1-2-1 in the ACC, the 2013 season 1-2 in the ACC and the 2016 season 0-1 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.

A RARE HOME LOSS FOR CAROLINA: Carolina's 2-1 loss against Princceton at WakeMed Soccer Park on November 19, 2018 was just the 28th home loss in Carolina history and just the third home loss in the last three seasons combined (2015-17). Carolina went 8-1 at home in 2015 and was 10-1 at home in 2016 after ending with a 1-0 win over Clemson on November 20, 2016. Carolina was 6-1-2 at home in 2017.

IN THE ACC REGULAR SEASON: In its last 50 ACC regular season games, UNC is 40-5-5, a winning percentage of close to 86 percent.
The Tar Heels had a 17-game ACC unbeaten streak ended at Louisville on October 8, 2015 that had stretched from late in the 2013 season.
The Tar Heels won their last three ACC games of the 2013 season, went 9-0-1 in 2014 and finished 7-3 in the conference in 2015. UNC was 6-2-2 in the league the following year and finished 8-0-2 in 2017.
Prior to falling at Louisville in 2015, 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, were 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, 40 wins, just five losses and five ties in UNC's last 50 regular season ACC games is a remarkable accomplishment given the parity in the league at this point.

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 948 matches in its history. There have been only 24 games in that time in which the Tar Heels have ever trailed by more than a single goal in a game. That's 2.5 percent of the matches Carolina has played in history.
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 lost to NC State 1-0 in its ACC opener for the 2016 season on September 16, 2016. It was only the fourth loss in an ACC opener for the Tar Heels in their history.
Carolina won its 2017 ACC opener 1-0 at Florida State and again won its 2018 ACC opener against Florida State with another 1-0 win in Tallahassee. The Tar Heels are 26-4-1 overall in conference openers after winning at Florida State on September 14.
Carolina's losses in ACC openers came at home against NC State 1-0 on September 16, 2016, 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 2018 season, Carolina swept a pair of games in the Carolina Nike Classic as the Tar Heels beat Illinois 3-1 and Ohio State 2-0.
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 27 times.
Carolina has a 49-3-2 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.
Carolina played a single game to open the 2017 weekend against Duke in Cary, N.C. but it was not part of a formal Nike Classic.

CAROLINA IN SEASON OPENERS: Carolina has a record of 33-5-2 all-time in season openers after beating Illinois 3-1 in overtime on August 16. 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 there were ties in 1985 vs. George Mason (home) and 2002 vs. Nebraska (road).

UNC IN HOME OPENERS: North Carolina has a record of 35-2-3 in home openers all-time after beating Illinois 3-1 on August 16.
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.