University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Hosts Harvard Friday Evening
September 5, 2019 | Men's Soccer
History With Harvard
• UNC and Harvard have only played twice in their storied histories, with the Heels holding a 2-0 edge in the series. Both games have been played in Chapel Hill as UNC won the first meeting in 1995 with the score of 2-0 as well as the second meeting in 2003 by the score of 1-0.
Slow Start
• The Heels failed to win one of its games in the Carolina Nike Classic for the first time since 2007 when the Tar Heels lost 1-0 to Monmouth and tied Old Dominion 1-1 in 2OT. The 2007 team finished the year 7-8-5.
• This is also the first time since 2007 that the Heels have failed to win one of its first two games. The 2007 team didn't win a game until its fourth match of the season when they defeated Akron 3-0.
Kirk Urso Student Section
• At halftime on Friday Aug. 30, the University dedicated the student section after former Tar Heel captain, Kirk Urso. Urso was a 4-year starter from 2008-2011 and went to 4 consecutive college cups before leading the 2011 Heels to the National Championship. Urso tragically passed away in 2012 at the age of 22 during his rookie season with the Columbus Crew SC.
2019 ACC Title Favorite
• For the fourth consecutive year, the Tar Heels are favored to claim the ACC title, claiming 9 of the possible 12 votes from the leagues head coaches.
• Carolina is also favored to claim its fifth consecutive Coastal Division title. UNC scored 10 of the 12 first-place votes in the Coastal Division while Virginia and Duke each received one.
New, On Campus Soccer Stadium
• Carolina will be back on campus in 2019 with a brand new soccer stadium after spending the last two seasons in Cary, N.C.
• The new soccer and lacrosse stadium is a state-of-the-art home for men's and women's soccer as well as men's and women's lacrosse. It hosts meeting rooms, film rooms and locker rooms for all sports.
• It has 4,200 individual chair backs, a new LED scoreboard and is located in the heart of campus.
No. 1 Recruiting Class
•According to TopDrawerSoccer, the Tar Heels brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for the 2019 season.
• The incoming class consists of 10 freshman and one junior transfer, Santiago Herrera, from UCLA.
• This is the second time in the last 5 years the Tar Heels have brought in the top class in the country. They also did so in 2016, which is the current senior class, and have been to the NCAA College Cup two of the last three years since that class stepped on campus.
• Mauricio Pineda, Jack Skahan, Jeremy Kelly, Gio Montesdeoca, Drew Romig and Cam Lindley were all part of the 2016 class that was ranked No. 1.
