Carolina Hosts Hokies Sunday In ACC Quarterfinals

Sunday, October 28

Cary, N.C. (WakeMed Soccer Park)

1 p.m.

North Carolina

Virginia Tech

The 2018 Tar Heels begin ACC Tournament title quest Sunday versus Virginia Tech.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 26, 2018 | Women's Soccer

2018 Season Stats (pdf)Twitter Updates Watch On ACC Network Extra Live Stats Senior Night Video Tribute

Tar Heels finished regular-season 15-2-1 overall.

By: Dave Lohse

TAR HEELS HOST HOKIES IN ACC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SUNDAY: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team will begin play Sunday in the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament as head coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels meet the Virginia Tech Hokies at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.
The game Sunday will be played at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
The Tar Heels are the tournament's #1 seed, the first time UNC has earned the tournament's top seed since 2010. Virginia Tech is the #8 seed.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students ages 7 through college and for senior citizens ages 55 and above. Children ages six and under do not require a ticket to attend. All seats are general admission.
Parking at WakeMed Soccer Park is free.
The match will be nationally televised on ACC Network Extra with Kyle Straub on the play-by-play call. Live stats will be available on GoHeels.com.

UNC DOWNS WAKE FOREST TO FINISH ACC REGULAR SEASON WITH PERFECT RECORD: Junior forward Madison Schultz's flair for the dramatic returned to benefit the third-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team on October 25 as the Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park to finish the 2018 ACC regular season schedule undefeated and untied, the first time Carolina has accomplished that feat since 2006.
Schultz headed home the game-winning goal in the 74^th minute to provide the Tar Heels with the winning margin in a hard-fought defensive battle in which the Demon Deacons held Carolina to a season-low seven shots.
The junior from Edmonds, Wash., held her line and split a pair of Wake Forest defenders to deliver a header from 12 yards that found the right side of the goal past Demon Deacon goalkeeper Nonie Frishette. Annie Kingman tackled the ball away from a Demon Deacon defender moments earlier and Taylor Otto sent a short pass to Julia Ashley who then launched a perfect cross into the box to Schultz.
Schultz was starting for the first time in the season as Rachel Jones was nursing an injury. Her game-winning goal was her second of the season and seventh of her career. Her other game-winning tally came in the season opener against Illinois on August 16. It was two years ago that she scored five goals, all game-winners, beginning with the final game of the 2016 ACC regular season against Florida State. She went on to score the game-winning tallies against Virginia in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, against Liberty in the NCAA first round, against Kansas in the NCAA second round and against South Carolina in the NCAA quarterfinals. Altogether, seven of her 10 career goals have been game-winning tallies as she has delivered at the most opportune times in her career.
With the win, UNC finished the regular season on a 10-game winning streak, notching a 15-2-1 overall mark and a perfect 10-0 ledger in ACC play. Wake Forest saw its two-match winning streak end and the Demon Deacons conclude the regular season at 8-8-1 overall and 4-6 in the ACC.
The 10 ACC wins equal the most UNC has recorded in a single season in history. It also won 10 league matches in 2006 and 2013. The 10-0-0 mark is the first time since 2006 that Carolina has finished undefeated and untied in ACC regular season play. UNC was also 10-0-0 that season.
The game was very even statistically. UNC outshot the Demon Deacons 7-5, including a 4-2 edge in shots on goal. The Tar Heels had three corner kicks to two for the Demon Deacons. Nonie Frishette played the entire 90 minutes in goal for Wake Forest, making three saves while allowing one goal. Senior Samantha Leshnak went the whole way in goal for the Tar Heels, making two saves and recording her fourth solo shutout of the season.
Carolina outshot the Demon Deacons 4-1 in the first half and had three excellent chances to take the lead. Frishette made outstanding saves on a pair of shots by Alessia Russo at 15:58 in a one-on-one situation after a Wake Forest turnover and again at 35:37, forcing a corner kick. After a foul by Wake Forest in the 42^nd minute of play, Lotte Wubben-Moy served a ball into the middle of the penalty box that bounced around before being cleared off the end line at the very last second by a Demon Deacon defender for a corner kick.
Leshnak made one save in each half for Carolina. Wake Forest took four of the first five shots of the second half, but UNC defense clamped down and denied the Deacs a shot in the final 18:32 of the match.
The game was the final regular season home game for Tar Heel seniors Nicole Crutchfield, Dorian Bailey, Megan Joyner, Annie Kingman, Sydney Wooten, Alex Kimball, Samantha Leshnak, Julia Ashley, Kate Morris, Jessie Scarpa and Maggie Bill.

SCOUTING THE TEAMS: The Tar Heels are 15-2-1 overall and 10-0 in the ACC while Virginia Tech is 9-6-3 overall and 5-5 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels have won 10 matches in a row while the Hokies earned the final spot in the ACC Tournament field on Thursday night by winning at Louisville 1-0.
UNC is ranked third this week by the United Soccer Coaches, second by Top Drawer Soccer and third by Soccer America. The Hokies are unranked.

FOX AMONG SEVEN TAR HEELS CALLED UP TO U.S. NATIONAL TEAM: U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named a 24-player roster for a two-game European tour that will see the USA travel to face Portugal in Lisbon on November 8 and Scotland in Paisley on November 13. The call-ups were announced by U.S. Soccer on October 26.
Seven of the 24 players on the roster played collegiately at the University of North Carolina, including current sophomore defender Emily Fox, an Ashburn, Va. native. The other players who competed at UNC during their collegiate careers include goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), defenders Crystal Dunn (North Carolina Courage) and Merritt Mathias (North Carolina Courage), midfielder Allie Long (Seattle Reign) and forwards Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns) and Jessica McDonald (North Carolina Courage), all current players in the National Women's Soccer League.
Defender Emily Fox, a veteran of the USA's last two FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup teams and one of the top outside backs in the college game, gets her first senior team call-up. The University of North Carolina sophomore earned 34 caps and scored four goals at the U-20 level.
Ellis and her staff will name 18 players to the game day roster for each match. These will be the first friendly matches for the USA since it secured a berth to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Eighteen of the 24 players on the squad who helped the USA qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup at the recently completed 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship were named to this roster. Two additional players on the Europe-bound roster, goalkeeper Adrianna French and defender Merritt Mathias, both of whom have seen consistent time with the USA this year, trained with the team during the qualifying tournament.
Allie Long returns to the team for this trip. She was last with the USA at the 2018 Tournament of Nations this past summer. Forward Jessica McDonald, who had a stellar 10-goal season with NWSL champion North Carolina Courage and then scored twice in the semifinal and twice in the championship game to help her club claim the title, gets her first call-up since the 2017 SheBelieves Cup. McDonald also led the NWSL in assists with eight.
These will be the final games of a highly competitive 2018 schedule in which the USA has compiled a 16-0-2 record. The next victory for the U.S. Women's National Team will mark an impressive milestone as it will be the 500^th win in program history. Since its inception in 1985, the U.S. WNT has compiled a record of 499 wins, 65 losses and 74 ties.
NATIONAL TEAM CAPS: Ashlyn Harris 18, Crystal Dunn 73 (24 goals), Emily Fox 0, Merritt Mathias 1, Allie Long 39 (6 goals), Tobin Heath 142 (25 goals), Jessica McDonald 1

SENIOR NIGHT FOR THE TAR HEELS THURSDAY: The game against Wake Forest this past Thursday was Senior Night for 11 Tar Heel senior players and undergraduate assistant coaches who competed in their final regular season home games as Tar Heels at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Those individuals honored in pregame ceremonies included senior Kate Morris, UNC's undergraduate assistant coach who retired from playing after the 2017 season, as well as fifth-year senior Sydney Wooten, another former undergraduate assistant coach. The nine players honored in pregame ceremonies included the following.
Annie Kingman, Graduate Student Midfielder, Woodside, Calif.
Jessie Scarpa, Redshirt Senior Forward, Lakeland, Fla.
Samantha Leshnak, Senior Goalkeeper, Liberty Township, Ohio
Julia Ashley, Senior Defender, Verona, N.J.
Maggie Bill, Redshirt Senior Defender, Huntington, N.Y.
Dorian Bailey, Senior Midfielder, Mission, Kan.
Megan Joyner, Senior Midfielder, Hillsborough, N.C.
Nicole Crutchfield, Senior Midfielder, Durham, N.C.
Alex Kimball, Redshirt Senior Forward, Chapel Hill, N.C.

CAROLINA IN THE RPI: The North Carolina women's soccer team is ranked No. 2 in this week's NCAA RPI, the leading indicator of potential post-season bids and seedings. Based on this week's RPI, the Tar Heels have played against one of the nation's most difficult schedules in 2018.
UNC has played regular season games against #1 Stanford, #5 Santa Clara, #6 Florida State, #9 Texas, #19 Boston College, #27 Wake Forest, #32 Louisville, #35 Ohio State, #43 Virginia Tech, #45 Providence, #50 Clemson, #55 Notre Dame and #68 UCF. The only teams UNC has played who are not amongst the Top 75 in the RPI are Illinois, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Miami.
UNC will play #43 Virginia Tech for the second time this season in Sunday's ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

CAROLINA IN THE NATIONAL STATS: Beginning this week, Carolina was ranked in the NCAA Division I national stats in the following categories.
TEAM STATS
Assists Per Game: 3rd at 2.76
Scoring Defense: 12th at 0.464
Points Per Game: 9th at 7.12
Shots Per Game: 12th at 19.06
Shots on Goal Per Game: 15th at 8.76
Total Assists: 3rd at 47
Total Points: 9th at 121
Won-Lost-Tied Percentage: 10th at 0.853

LESHNAK LEADS COUNTRY IN GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: Senior goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak leads the nation in goals against average at 0.18 heading into the Virginia Tech game. She is ranked fifth in NCAA Division I save percentage this year at .923. Leshnak normally splits time in the goal with freshman Claudia Dickey. Leshnak has not allowed a goal since the second minute of Carolina's game against Texas on August 22.
Leshnak and Dickey shared time in 14 of the 18 regular-season games. Leshnak went all the way in goal in solo shutouts in the regular season against Florida State, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Wake Forest.
Her currrent goals against average ranks as the second best in a single season in UNC women's soccer history and her save percentage ranks as the third best in a single season in UNC women's soccer history.

BINGHAM NAMED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina sophomore defender Brooke Bingham shared last week's ACC Defensive Player of the Week honor with Florida State's Natalia Kuikka. The award was announced on October 23, 2018.
Bingham played all 180 minutes in a pair of ACC shutouts for the Tar Heels, one of only two UNC players to play all 90 minutes in both matches last week. She led a stout defensive effort that blanked high-scoring Boston College 1-0 on Thursday and then helped the Tar Heels limit Miami to just two shots in a 2-0 win on Sunday. With the two wins, UNC clinched its first outright ACC regular-season championship since 2010 and its 22nd ACC regular-season championship overall (21 outright, one shared).
After wins over Boston College and Miami, senior defender Julia Ashley was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week for the third time in 2018.

REGULAR SEASON MEETING BETWEEN UNC AND VIRGINIA TECH: Goals by Alessia Russo and Dorian Bailey powered the University of North Carolina's women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Virginia Tech October 13 at Thompson Field.
UNC emerged with its seventh successive win over Virginia Tech following wins by the Hokies in Blacksburg in 2009 and 2011. The Tar Heels are 15-2 all-time against Virginia Tech, including a 7-2 mark in games played in Blacksburg.
UNC finished with a 13-6 edge in shots in the game and the Tar Heels took five corner kicks to one for the Hokies.
The game-winning goal for the Tar Heels came at the 21:19 mark of the match as Alessia Russo finished from the top of the box into the lower right corner past Hokie goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn. It was Russo's fifth goal of the season. She was assisted on the goal by both Bridgette Andrzejewski who sent a nice pass forward to spring Russo free and by Julia Ashley who served a free kick to Andrzejewski after a foul on the Hokies.
The Tar Heels added an insurance goal at the 80:35 mark of the match off the foot of Dorian Bailey who notched her second score of the season. Bailey finished inside the box past McGlynn after taking a nifty through ball from Rachel Jones. Morgan Goff had the secondary assist on the goal.
McGlynn went the entire way in goal for Virginia Tech and made four saves while allowing two goals. Samantha Leshnak went the entire way in goal for the Tar Heels and made two saves while posting her second solo shutout of the season.

ASHLEY NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST: Twenty NCAA® men's and women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as finalists in October for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer. Among those 20 were Alex Comsia and Julia Ashley making North Carolina the only school with two finalists.
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 finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 men's candidates and 30 women's candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting began immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 18, 2018. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships later this fall.
For more information on all the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com. To vote for Ashley and Comsia for the award visit http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/.
Men's Soccer Finalists
Ryder Bell, William & Mary
Alex Comsia, North Carolina
Brad Dunwell, Wake Forest
Mark Forrest, Lehigh
DeJuan Jones, Michigan State
Daniel Krutzen, Albany
Robbie Mertz, Michigan
Callum Montgomery, UNC Charlotte
Tate Schmitt, Louisville
Andre Shinyashiki, Denver
Women's Soccer Finalists
Julia Ashley, North Carolina
Alana Cook, Stanford
Katie Glenn, Texas
Jennifer Hiddink, Air Force
CeCe Kizer, Mississippi
Hailie Mace, UCLA
Kayla McCoy, Duke
Katie Moller, North Dakota
Bianca St. Georges, West Virginia
Jessica Wollmann, Radford

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.
A total of 773 college teams (289 men, 484 women) earned the Team Academic Award, including 191 schools who had both their men's and women's programs among the recipients. At the high school level, 309 teams (105 boys, 204 girls) were honored with the Team Academic Award, including 30 schools earning recognition for both their boys' and girls' programs.
United Soccer Coaches annually celebrates the academic achievements of high school and college soccer teams whose student-athletes collectively demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their studies over the course of a full academic year.
Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., United Soccer Coaches is the trusted and unifying voice, advocate and partner for coaches at all levels of the game. The largest community for soccer coaches in the world, we unite coaches of all levels around the love of the game and we elevate the game through advocacy, education and service. To learn more, visit UnitedSoccerCoaches.org.

CAROLINA'S BALANCED SCORING UNIT: In 18 games this season, UNC has scored 38 goals, passed for 49 assists and accounted for 125 points overall.
The 38 goals have been scored by 15 different players with Alessia Russo leading the way with six goals.
Nineteen players have accounted for the 49 assists, led by Taylor Otto's six assists.
The 125 points have been accounted for by 21 different players with Alessia Russo and Taylor Otto leading the way with 16 points each.

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 are 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.

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 represented 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 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.

RECORD NUMBER OF TAR HEELS NAMED TO ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL: For the third year in a row and the fifth time in the past six years, a record number of Tar Heels earned spots on the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll for the 2017-18 school year. North Carolina placed 391 student-athletes, an all-time high, on the ACC's 62nd-annual honor roll. It's the sixth year in a row that more than 300 Tar Heel student-athletes have earned the recognition.
The ACC Honor Roll is comprised of 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 record total marked an improvement of six over last year, when the Tar Heels had an all-time high of 385 students honored. The number of UNC students honored for 2017-18 is roughly half of Carolina's total number of student-athletes and is an improvement of more than 100 student-athletes over the past decade.
Tar Heel women's soccer players included on the 2017-18 ACC Academic Honor Roll included freshman Miah Araba, junior Dorian Bailey, senior Megan Buckingham, sophomore Natalie Chandler, senior Cannon Clough, junior Nicole Crutchfield, freshman Emily Fox, sophomore Morgan Goff, junior Megan Joyner, senior Annie Kingman, junior Kate Morris, freshman Tayor Otto, sophomore Zoe Redei, senior Frances Reuland, junior Jessie Scarpa, freshman Laura Sparling, sophomore Abby Staker, senior Maya Worth and freshman Lotte Wubben-Moy.

TRIO OF TAR HEELS NAMED ALL-ACC ACADEMIC FOR 2017-18: Three North Carolina women's soccer players were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team, announced February 1 by the league. Tar Heels named to the squad, which recognizes combined academic and athletic performance, were senior Megan Buckingham and juniors Julia Ashley and Dorian Bailey.
Buckingham, from Novi, Mich., graduated in December with a major in media and journalism. She was named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the second year in a row.
Ashley is from Verona, N.J., and Bailey is from Mission, Kan. Both are majoring in exercise and sport science.
To be considered for the All-ACC Academic teams, conference student-athletes must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average for the fall semester, as well as a cumulative 3.0 over the course of their college careers.

TAR HEELS LOOK TO DEFEND ACC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINNING SUNDAY: Carolina comes into the 2018 season as the defending Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champion.
The University of North Carolina women's soccer team (ranked #4, seeded #2) defeated top-seeded and second-ranked Duke Sunday afternoon, November 5 to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Championship at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, S.C. Zoe Redei's goal on a rebound in the first minute of the second half was the difference as the Tar Heels prevailed by a score of 1-0 over their arch rivals. That was the same score by which the Tar Heels had beaten NC State Friday night in the semifinals on Alessia Russo's second-half unassisted goal.
With the victory, the Tar Heels earned their first ACC championship since 2009 and their 21st ACC Tournament title overall since the first event in 1988. The Tar Heels also won the ACC title in 1987 when it was contested in a round robin format. The tournament title also earned Carolina the automatic bid to the NCAA championship from the ACC.
Carolina outshot the Blue Devils 11-10 in the game and had a 3-0 edge in corner kicks. UNC had five shots on goal in the game and Duke had just two. E.J. Proctor made four saves for the Blue Devils and allowed the only goal of the game while Samantha Leshnak had two saves for Carolina. Leshnak recorded her 11th solo shutout of the season in 19 games with nine of those shutouts coming against ACC teams.
Alessio Russo was named the tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal against NC State in the semifinals and assisting on the game-winning goal in the championship match.
The only goal of the game came in the first minute of the second half. Alessia Russo had a shot in box on the left side that was deflected by a Duke defender. The ball fell directly into the path of Zoe Redei who took a couple of dribbles and then blasted a shot from 10 yards out into the top shelf of the goal for the eventual winning score. It was Redei's second goal of the season, both in the last seven days and both on rebounds.
Carolina had two tremendous chances to score in the opening 16 minutes of the game but were denied on both occasions by reaction saves by Proctor. Julia Ashley's header off a free kick by Joanna Boyles at 3:24 was deflected off the right post for a corner kick. Redei had a close-in header in the box saved by Proctor in the 16th minute. Duke placed only two shots on goal, both saved by Leshnak. The Tar Heel junior keeper saved a shot from distance by Ella Stevens in the 72nd minute while Leshnak denied Karlie Paschall from close range in the 86th minute, the best Blue Devil chance of the game.
North Carolina heads into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 15-2-2. Duke is 19-2-0 on the season. The only losses for the Blue Devils this year came against North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat Duke 2-1 on August 18 in the season opener between the two teams. The loss in the ACC Tournament snapped a school-record 19-game winning streak for the nationally second-ranked Blue Devils (19-2).

UNC IN ACC TOURNAMENT: UNC has qualified for a spot in every ACC Tournament dating back to the first event in 1988. The top eight teams in the 2018 regular season standings earnED spots in this year's tournament.
After winning the 2017 ACC Tournament, North Carolina is 64-5-5 all-time in the ACC Tournament dating to the first tournament in 1988. North Carolina has an all-time winning percentage of 89.9 percent in ACC Tournament games.
The championship last year was the 21st in ACC Tournament play for Carolina in the 30-year history of the tournament. Florida State has won five ACC titles, Virginia has won two and Wake Forest and NC State have won one championship each.

UNC VERSUS VIRGINIA TECH: Carolina has a 15-2 all-time record against Virginia Tech and has won seven games in a row in the series. The two teams have played each other twice in ACC Tournament history, both times in Cary, N.C.
UNC beat the Hokies 3-0 in the championship game of the 2008 ACC Tournament and it downed the Hokies 4-2 in the 2010 ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

CONSISTENCY, STATISTICAL ANOMALY OR JUST VERY GOOD?: North Carolina enters Sunday's match against Virginia Tech with an all-time winning percentage of .904 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 90.4 percent of its games overall, 87.1 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.

DORRANCE EARNS 800TH WIN: On Sunday, October 9, 2016, the University of North Carolina women's soccer program achieved a pair of monumental milestones in program history - the program's 800th victory in its 900th game.
The North Carolina women's soccer program began as a varsity team in the 1979 season. The Tar Heels played the program's 900th game on October 9, 2016 when Carolina rallied past Wake Forest 2-1 at Fetzer Field.
In the process, head coach Anson Dorrance earned his 800th career victory as the head coach of the Tar Heels as the symmetry lined up perfectly.

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 40,600 followers, the most in college women's soccer. @uncwomenssoccer has over 23,000 followers while @ncwomenssoccer has over 17,600 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 804 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 779 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 Virginia Tech with an all-time record of 841-72-39. Dorrance has coached the Tar Heels in all 952 of their games all-time.

THE ALL-TIME RECORD: UNC heads into its match against Virginia Tech with a record of 841-72-39 overall, a winning percentage of .904. 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 952 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.
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 209-26-11 all-time in ACC regular-season matches. The Tar Heels earned their 200th all-time ACC regular season victory on September 14, 2018 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 52 ACC regular season games, UNC is 42-5-5, a winning percentage of 85.3 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. Carolina finished the 2018 season with a perfect 10-0-0 ACC regular-season mark.
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, 42 wins, just five losses and five ties in UNC's last 52 regular season ACC games is a remarkable accomplishment given the parity in the league at this point.

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.