No. 2 Carolina Hosts No. 8 Duke Sunday

Sunday, August 25

Chapel Hill, N.C

6 p.m.

North Carolina

Duke

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

August 23, 2019 | Women's Soccer

Watch Live on ACCNX Live Stats Buy Tickets Parking Information 2019 Media Guide (PDF)Game Notes (PDF)2019 Combined Stats

Alumni to be honored at halftime

By: Dave Lohse

COMPLETE GAME NOTES FOR INDIANA & DUKE GAMES (PDF)

2019 UNC WOMEN'S SOCCER MEDIA GUIDE (PDF)

TAR HEELS HOST DUKE SUNDAY TO CLOSE OUT WEEKEND: The North Carolina women's soccer team will play host to the Duke Blue Devils Sunday at 6 p.m. to close out this weekend's activity opening the 2019 campaign. The match will be played at the new UNC Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium.

The game will be played as part of the annual Carolina Nike Classic at UNC. Also on Sunday La Salle will play North Florida at 12 noon.

Sunday's match against the Blue Devils is a non-conference game and will feature a halftime ceremony honoring alumni who have led the program to 22 national championships, 22 ACC regular season championships and 21 ACC Tournament titles in its 41-year history. Promotions will also include a commemorative T-shirt dispersal in exchanged for canned food donations to the Chapel Hill Interfaith Council for Social Service.

The Carolina Nike Classic opened on Thursday night with Duke defeating La Salle 2-0 and North Carolina defeating Indiana 3-0.

SCOUTING THE TEAMS: The Tar Heels were 21-4-2 overall last year and won the ACC regular-season championship with a 10-0 mark. UNC is ranked #2 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches organization poll, #3 in the preseason Top Drawer Soccer poll and #4 in the Soccer America poll.

Duke was 16-4-2 a year ago under the leadership of long-time head coach Robbie Church who took over the Blue Devil program in 2001. The Blue Devils are #8 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches Association poll, ranked #17 in the preseason Top Drawer Soccer poll and they are #12 in the Soccer America poll.

TICKETS: UNC opened its brand spanking new UNC Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium on Thursday. The natural grass field and new stadium structure features a seating capacity of 4,200 fans. Advance tickets for the game are on sale at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center (link in next sentence).

Tickets are now on sale at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center.

On game day, tickets will be on sale at the stadium main gate adjacent to the front entrance of Carmichael Arena (South Road entrance). Game day sales will also be available at the Stadium drive pedestrian walkway adjacent to Carmichael Dorm.

Individual game tickets are available at $10 for reserved seats and $5 for general admission. Because of the potential of long lines at the ticket centers on Sunday, fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance.

PARKING INFORMATION: UNC Parking & Transportation has created a website to assist Carolina soccer fans to find the easiest and best available parking options for game day parking, always a concern at Carolina. Fans are encouraged to check out these options in advance so they are aware of options, INCLUDING some first-ever pre-pay options at certain lots.

CHECK OUT PARKING OPTIONS FOR CAROLINA SOCCER AT THIS LINK

GAME PROMOTIONS: Tar Heel women's soccer fans can look forward to the following game promotions on Sunday. There will be a lot of exciting promotions and giveaways going on.
Sunday, 8/25 vs. Duke
PREGAME
•Commemorative shirts to the first 1,000 fans with donation to Chapel Hill Interfaith Council for Social Service (available at main entryways - bring a bag of canned food or a bundle of diapers in exchange for a commemorative T-shirt
•Schedule poster and schedule cards at marketing table (main concourse by press box)
•Commemorative women's soccer history booklet on sale
•Carolina Fever in attendance
•Academic All-Stars table in attendance
•Tar Heel Alley, open pre-game
*Live Rameses in attendance
•Costumed Rameses and RJ should be in attendance
HALFTIME
•Honoring Tar Heel Women's Soccer Alumni
POSTGAME
•Autograph session with 2019 team + alumni in attendance

TAR HEELS WIN 2019 OPENER VERSUS INDIANA: North Carolina opened its luxurious new Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium on the Tar Heel campus with 3-0 win over Indiana on August 22 in a rain-delayed Carolina Nike Classic women's soccer opener. A crowd of 1,481 fans weathered the delays to root on the Tar Heels to victory in their season opener, playing in the new on-campus stadium that replaced Fetzer Field, home of the team from 1979-2016. Senior Bridgette Andrzejewski scored the first-ever Tar Heel goal in the new stadium for the game-winner in the 14^th minute and Brianna Pinto, a sophomore whose father played for the men's team at the old Fetzer in the 1990s, had a brace to push the Tar Heels to an eventual 3-0 win. Carolina outshot the Hoosiers 16-1 in the match and had an 8-1 edge in corner kicks. UNC employed two goalkeepers with freshman Marz Josephson playing the first half and Claudia Dickey the second half. Neither was forced to make a save. Bethany Kopel went all 90 minutes for Indiana and made four saves while allowing all three goals. Carolina opened the scoring at 13:03 behind the hustle of Andrzejewski. She earned a corner kick on the left side and Pinto sent the kick into a fray where it was headed on to the right side of the box. Taylor Otto's pass into the middle of the penalty area nutmegged Kopel and Andrzejewski drove the ball into the back of the net from close range to make it 1-0. The second Carolina goal came at 17:43 with UNC earning a free from 25 yards. Alessia Russo drove the ball towards the right side of the goal but Kopel parried it away. Freshman Aleigh Gambone pounced on the rebound in the right side of the box and centered it to Pinto who drove the ball into the lower right corner from six yards. Carolina finished the scoring at 80:42 on a great individual effort goal by Pinto. She gathered in the loose ball at the top of the box, took one dribble and left footed a worm burner from 18 yards out into the lower right corner to finish off the scoring.

TAR HEELS TABBED TO REPEAT AS ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team has been chosen as the preseason favorite to win the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title in a vote of the league's 14 head coaches announced August 8.

Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels received six first place votes and 188 total points in the voting. Florida State, which won last year's ACC Tournament, was picked on eight first place ballots and had 185 points overall.

The remainder of the standings have Virginia in third with 163 points, Duke in fourth with 155 points, Clemson in fifth with 121 points, NC State in sixth with 109 points, Wake Forest in seventh with 106 points, Louisville in eighth with 99 points, Notre Dame in ninth with 88 points, Boston College in 10th with 87 points, Virginia Tech in 11th with 85 points, Miami in 12th with 39 points, Pittsburgh in 13th with 29 points and Syracuse in 14th with 16 points.

The 11-player preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team includes a trio of Tar Heels – junior defender Emily Fox, junior forward Alessio Russo and sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto. The preseason All-ACC Team also includes Clemson junior forward Mariana Speckmaier, Florida State redshirt junior defender Malia Berkely, Florida State senior forward Deyna Castellanos, Florida State sophomore midfielder Jaelin Howell, Florida State sophomore midfielder Yujie Zhao, Louisville junior midfielder Emina Ekic and Virginia Tech senior goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn.

TAR HEELS CHECK IN AT NO. 2 IN UNITED SOCCER COACHES POLL: The University of North Carolina women's soccer program has earned the No. 2 spot in the opening poll of the 2019 season sponsored by United Soccer Coaches (formerly National Soccer Coaches Association of America). The poll was released on August 6.
The Tar Heels trail only defending NCAA champion Florida State in the preseason poll ranking 25 teams. Two other ACC teams are ranked in the Top 10 with Duke at #8 and Virginia at #9. Three other ACC teams are ranked between 20th and 25th in the poll.
United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's Preseason Poll
August 6, 2019
Rank, School, 1st Place Votes, Total Points, W-L-T
1. Florida State, 33, 870, 1, 20-4-3
2. North Carolina, 0, 821, 2, 21-4-2
3. Stanford, 1, 808, 2, 21-1-2
4. UCLA, 0, 748, 5, 17-3-2
5. Southern California, 0, 700, 6-17-2-3
6. Penn State, 1, 678, 8, 18-9-1
7. Georgetown, 0, 676, 4, 21-1-3
8. Duke, 0, 619, 10, 16-4-2
9. Virginia, 0, 571, 11, 16-5-1
10. Tennessee, 0, 501, 7, 16-3-3
11. West Virginia, 0, 482, 14, 15-4-4
12. Texas A&M, 0, 477, 13, 17-5-1
13. Santa Clara, 0, 447, 12, 17-3-2
14. Baylor, 0, 417, 9, 20-6-0
15. South Carolina, 0, 383, 17, 14-6-1
16. Wisconsin, 0, 283, 15, 14-4-4
17. Vanderbilt, 0, 274, 16, 16-4-1
18. South Florida, 0, 188, 19, 14-4-0
19. Texas, 0, 180, 20, 13-5-3
20. Memphis, 0, 142, 23, 17-4-0
21. NC State, 0, 140, 22, 11-7-4
22. Texas Tech, 0, 102, 24, 14-5-3
23. Wake Forest, 0, 100, 25, 9-9-2
24. LSU, 0, 78, 18, 13-7-4
25. Virginia Tech, 0, 76, 21, 11-8-3
The Tar Heels were ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll released by Top Drawer Soccer on August 6.

THREE TAR HEELS NAMED TO 2019 HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: A trio of returnees from the University of North Carolina's 2018 NCAA Tournament runnerup team have been named to the 2019 Women's Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List presented by World Wide Technology.

A total of 61 collegiate players nationwide were named to the list by United Soccer Coaches and the Missouri Athletic Club. Tar Heels on the list are junior forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England, junior midfielder Taylor Otto of Apex, N.C. and sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto of Durham, N.C.

The Watch List was announced on Thursday. Fifteen semifinalists will be announced by United Soccer Coaches on December 3. Three finalists will be identified on December 13. On January 10, 2020, the Hermann Trophy winner will be announced at the Hermann Trophy Press Conference and Awards Banquet to be held at the Missouri Athletic Club in Saint Louis.

Russo was a semifinalist for the award last year. She was a first-team United Soccer Coaches All-America at forward, first-team All-ACC and the 2018 ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Despite having her 2018 season cut short by a torn ACL suffered in the final regular season game, Russo played in 14 games last season and was Carolina's third-leading scorer with 16 point. She shared the team lead in both goals scored with six and game-winning goals with four. She also had four assists.

Otto was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2018 and was named third-team All-America by United Soccer Coaches. She started all 27 games for UNC and had five goals and six assists for 16 points. She tied for third on the team in scoring with 16 points, sharing that spot on the scoring column with Russo.

Pinto was a first-team freshman All-America as named by Top Drawer Soccer. The Durham native was also a first-team All-ACC selection. Pinto played in 26 games, starting 25 times. She was Carolina's second-leading scorer with 20 points. She was second on the squad in assists with eight and she shared the team lead in goals scored with Russo and Julia Ashley with six.