Tar Heels Open NCAA Tournament Play Saturday

Saturday, November 10

Cary, N.C. (WakeMed Soccer Park)

1 p.m.

North Carolina

Howard

November 9, 2018 | Women's Soccer

Watch on ACC Network Extra Buy Tickets NCAA Tournament Bracket Live Stats 2018 Statistics Media Guide (pdf)

UNC hosts Bison at WakeMed Soccer Park

By: Dave Lohse

TAR HEELS HOST BISON IN NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND SATURDAY: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team will begin play Saturday in the 2018 NCAA Division I Tournament as head coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels meet the Howard University Bison at 1 p.m.
The game Saturday will be played at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
The Tar Heels are one of the tournament's four #1 seeds. It is the second straight year UNC has been a #1 seed and the fourth time this decade Carolina has been a top seed. The other three #1 seeds in this year's tournament brackets are Stanford, Florida State and Georgetown.
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. UNC students will be admitted to the game for free by showing their UNC One Cards at the gate.
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 and on NCAA.com.

SCOUTING THE TEAMS: North Carolina earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after finishing as the runner-up in the 2018 ACC Tournament. Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels are 17-3-1 overall. UNC was ranked #3 this week by United Soccer Coaches, #3 by Soccer America and #6 by Top Drawer Soccer.
Howard enters the match 12-6-2. The Bison earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament champion.

CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Carolina is the only school in the country that has played in all 37 NCAA Tournaments. In the previous 36 tournaments, UNC has an all-time record of 127-13-3. Carolina has won 21 NCAA Tournaments, finished second on three times and placed third on three occasions.

SIX TAR HEELS NAMED ALL-ACC: Six UNC players were named to the 2018 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team. First-team honorees included sophomore forward Alessia Russo, sophomore midfielder Taylor Otto, freshman midfielder Brianna Pinto and sophomore defender Emily Fox. Senior defender Julia Ashley was named second-team All-ACC and senior midfielder Dorian Bailey was named third-team All-ACC.
Forward Rachel Jones and midfielder Brianna Pinto were named to the ACC's All-Freshman Team.

RUSSO NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: North Carolina sophomore forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year in 2018. She is Carolina's leading scorer with 16 points on six goals and four assists. Russo earned this award despite playing in only 14 games this season. She missed the first four games of the year while playing with England in the U20 FIFA World Cup in France where her side won a bronze medal. Her season was then cut short when she broke her right leg in the second half of Carolina's game against Wake Forest on October 25.
Russo was the first Tar Heel to be named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year since Crystal Dunn in 2013.

DORRANCE EARNS COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD: Anson Dorrance was voted the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. This was the 11^th time he has won the award and the first time since 2008.

FOX EARNS FIRST NATIONAL TEAM CAP: On November 8, sophomore defender Emily Fox started in the U.S. Women's National Team's 1-0 victory over Portugal in Lisbon. It was her first national team Cap and in the process, she became the 59^th Tar Heel player in history to be capped with the USWNT. Former Tar Heel Jessica McDonald, Class of 2011, earned her second ever national team cap in the game and she scored the game-winning goal against Portugal. Crystal Dunn, UNC Class of 2014, also started for the U.S. in the game.

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 when UNC also finished 10-0-0.
The 10 ACC regular-season victories equaled the most in school history by the Tar Heels. They also won 10 games in 2006 (10-0-0) and in 2013 (10-3-0).
In 2018, UNC won its 22^nd ACC regular season championship (21 outright and one shared). Carolina won its first outright conference regular-season crown since 2010. UNC had shared the regular-season crown with Florida State in 2014.

CAROLINA IN THE RPI: The North Carolina women's soccer team finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the NCAA RPI, the leading indicator of potential post-season bids, seedings and strength of schedule. Based on the final RPI, the Tar Heels also played against one of the nation's most difficult schedules in 2018.
UNC played regular season games against #1 Stanford, #2 Florida State (twice), #12 Santa Clara, #13 Texas, #25 Boston College, #31 Wake Forest, #40 Ohio State, #43 Virginia Tech (twice), #46 Clemson (twice), #50 Illinois, #51 Providence and #52 Louisville.
Carolina was 8-3-1 against teams which made the NCAA Tournament field in 2018.

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.

FIRST MEETING ON THE PITCH: Saturday's game between UNC and Howard will mark the first ever meeting on the women's soccer pitch between the two teams.

CAROLINA'S BALANCED SCORING UNIT: In 21 games this season, UNC has scored 43 goals, passed for 52 assists and accounted for 138 points overall.
The 43 goals have been scored by 16 different players with Alessia Russo leading the way with six goals.
Nineteen players have accounted for the 52 assists, led by Taylor Otto's six assists.
The 138 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.

CONSISTENCY, STATISTICAL ANOMALY OR JUST VERY GOOD?: North Carolina enters Saturday's match against Howard 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 40,700 followers, the most in college women's soccer. @uncwomenssoccer has over 23,000 followers while @ncwomenssoccer has over 17,700 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 807 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 780 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 Saturday's game against Howard with an all-time record of 843-73-39. Dorrance has coached the Tar Heels in all 955 of their games all-time.

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 955 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 Princeton 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.