University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 12 Tar Heels Host Jacksonville Monday
September 2, 2018 | Men's Soccer
Tar Heels Take On Dolphins
• No. 12 North Carolina takes on the Jacksonville Dolphins in the first of three regular season "home" matches held at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.
• The Tar Heels hold a 5-0-1 record against the Dolphins with the only tie coming in 1970. The two sides haven't played each other since 2008 when Carolina took home the 1-0 victory.
• Carolina has outscored Jacksonville 23-4 in the series and hasn't allowed a goal in the last four matches (since 1980) outscoring the Dolphins 9-0 over the last four outings.
Carolina's Offense Explodes For 6 Goals
• No. 12 North Carolina put on an offensive clinic Friday night in Williamsburg, Va., taking down William & Mary 6-1.
• Carolina scored three goals in the first 31 minutes thanks to a brace from Niels Bruening and a craft finish from Mauricio Pineda. Gio Montesdeoca also recorded a brace and picked up an assist on the sixth and final goal from Alex Rose.
• 6 goals ties the most the Tar Heels have scored in a single game in the last two seasons as Carolina scored six goals twice during the 2017 campaign.
• This is the first time two players recorded a brace in the same game since Oct. 3 2017 when Cam Lindley and Gio Montesdeoca both scored two goals in a 6-0 win over James Madison.
DECADE OF DOMINANCE
• Over the last 10 seasons (2008-2017), UNC leads all other programs in the following:
- NCAA Championship wins: 23
- Sweet 16 Appearances: 9
- Elite 8 Appearances: 8
- Men's College Cup Appearances: 6
MAC Hermann Watch List
• Alex Comsia was named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List after helping lead the Tar Heels to back-to-back College Cups.
• Comsia led the team in minutes played (1977) last year while starting all 22 games for UNC.
Pieters Header Lifts Tar Heels Over ETSU
• Jelani Pieters 79th minute goal lifted the Tar Heels over ETSU in the season opener on Friday, August 24.
• The goal was Pieters 5th game-winning goal of his career after tying for the team lead with 4 last season.
First Half Explosion
• The Tar Heels have outshot their opponents 21-3 in the first half so far this season.
• Overall, the Heels have outshot opponents
36-13.
Winning Ways in Season Openers
• The Tar Heels are now 10-1 in their last 11 season openers, with the only loss coming to Akron (eventual national champions) in 2010.
Carolina Starts The Season 1-1
• No. 12 North Carolina kicked off the 2018 campaig with the Carolina Nike Classic taking down ETSU 1-0 and falling to No. 2 Indiana 1-0.
• Over the two games, Carolina outshot its oppo nents 21-10 overall and 8-5 on goal.
• Against Indiana, the Tar Heels held the Hoosiers to only 3 shots, the fewest in one game for the Hoosiers since 2004. They also outshot Indiana 9-1 in the first half, which is more total shots than the Tar Heels registered in last years NCAA Men's College Cup Semifinal when they finished the game with 8 total shots.
Carolina Drops Out of Top 10
• For the first time in 46 weeks (since the start of the 2015 season) the Tar Heels have dropped out of the top 10 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
• After beating ETSU and falling to No. 2 Indiana to start the season, the Heels fell to No. 12 in the USC poll.
• Carolina is still in the top 10 in College Soccer News (4) and TopDrawerSoccer (6).
Stingy Defense
• Against No. 2 Indiana, the Tar Heels held the Hoosiers to 3 total shots, the least amount in any game for Indiana in 2004.
• Carolina followed up that performance by only allowing three shots against William & Mary in the third game of the season.
• So far in three games, Carolina has only given up six shots on goal and 13 total shots.
U.S. Soccer College Program Champions
• North Carolina claimed the inaugural U.S. Soccer Spring College Program championship with after going undefeated in five games.
• Carolina went 5-0 on the spring season and outscored its opponents 13-2.
North Carolina Spring Results:
UNC 4, Clemson 1
UNC 4, Georgetown 0
UNC 2, Virginia 1
UNC 2, Wake Forest 0
UNC 1, Duke 0
Second half team
• In 2017, Carolina outscored its opponents 31-9 in the second half, including 6-2 in the postseason.
Veteran Core
• The Tar Heels return 8 players from last years NCAA College Cup team that played at least 1,000 minutes, including Alex Comsia, Mauricio Pineda and John Nelson who all finished top 3 in minutes played last year.
Healthy and ready to go
• Carolina gets two big pieces back for the 2018 season in Nils Bruening and Drew Murphy
• Nils missed all of last season due to injury but in 2016 he finished second on the team in points (17) and led the team in goals with 8.
• Murphy has dealt with injuries over the last two season in Chapel Hill, but when heatlhy has provided key moments for the Tar Heels. In 2016 his game-winning goal against Providence sent the Tar Heels to the NCAA College Cup.
Perfect preseason
• Carolina went 3-0 in preseason exhibition games defeating Coastal Carolina 4-0, Stetson 4-1 and Presbyterian 2-1.
• Since the start of the start of the spring season, Carolina is now 8-0 and has outscored its opponents 23-4.
2018 ACC Title favorite
• For the second consecutive year, the Tar Heels are favored to claim the 2018 ACC title, claiming 10 of the possible 12 votes from the leagues head coaches.
• Carolina is also favored to claim its fourth consecutive Coastal Division title.
Top 5.....AGAIN
• Carolina has been tabbed one of the top 5 teams in the country in the preseason polls 9 of the last 10 seasons. The only year they weren't, TopDrawerSoccer voted them preseason No. 6 in 2014.
• So far this season, the Tar Heels are No. 2 in Soccer American, No. 3 in United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News and No. 4 in TopDrawerSoccer.
