September 8, 2011

UNCG at Duke Nike Classic, Sept. 9 and 11, Durham, N.C.

LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com (via GoDuke.com)

Storylines

- UNCG's women's soccer team will continue to face one of the toughest nonconference slates in the nation this weekend, when it will take on consensus No. 1 North Carolina and top-10 Duke at the Duke Nike Classic in Durham, N.C., on Friday and Sunday.

- The Spartans enter the weekend 1-3 on the young season after topping George Mason 4-1 on Sept. 2 and falling to No. 23 Tennessee on Sept. 4, 2-0. North Carolina and Duke will be UNCG's third and fourth Atlantic Coast Conference foes of the season, as the Spartans opened the 2011 campaign with back-to-back games against Virginia Tech, which was unranked at the time but is now in the Soccer America and NSCAA/Continental Tire polls, and No. 14 Wake Forest.

- The last time UNCG faced either North Carolina or Duke was in 2009 at the UNC Nike Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., when the Spartans defeated then-No. 11 Duke 1-0 and fell to the top-ranked Tar Heels by the same score. That meeting was the last time UNCG faced a No. 1 team in women's soccer. Following that weekend, UNCG keeper Kelsey Kearney was named one of CollegeSoccer360.com's Primetime Performers of the Week. She had nine saves – one shy of her career high – in shutting out the Blue Devils, and had eight stops against the Tar Heels.

- Entering the weekend, juniors Lauren Hein and Karin Sendel are UNCG's leading scorers with four points each. They both did all of their damage for the season against George Mason, with Hein scoring a pair of goals and Sendel recording a goal and two assists. Kearney has logged all 360 minutes for the Spartans this far, turning in a 3.00 goals against average.

- Kearney, a three-time All-SoCon selection (first team, 2008 and 2010), is UNCG's career leader in goals against average, as she has posted a 0.76 mark through her first three-plus seasons. Already UNCG's school record-holder with 31 shutouts in just three seasons, she needs six more to become the SoCon's career leader in that category.

- Kearney was named one of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award at the beginning of the season. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award is given in football, men's and women's soccer, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball and volleyball.

- The Spartans have knocked off a ranked opponent in each of the last three seasons. In addition to downing then-No. 11 Duke in 2009, UNCG toppled then-No. 10 Wake Forest in 2010 and then-No. 15 Santa Clara in 2008.

- North Carolina enters the weekend 4-0 on the season with wins over then-No. 1 Notre Dame and then-No. 18 Ohio State to go along with victories over Houston and Nebraska.

- The 20-time NCAA champion Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America, NSCAA and SoccerTimes.com polls.

- Kealia Ohia is UNC's leading scorer with six points on two goals and two assists, while Courtney Jones, who had the golden-goal winner against Notre Dame in overtime on Aug. 26, has five points on a goal and three assists. The Tar Heels have split the action in the net, with Hannah Daly starting two contests and posting a 0.97 GAA and Adelaide Gay starting the other two and turning in a shutout and a 0.50 GAA.

- UNCG is 0-11 against North Carolina all-time, but the two have never played on neutral ground. The Tar Heels are 8-0 against UNCG in Chapel Hill and 3-0 in Greensboro.

- Duke (5-1) opened the season with three straight 2-0 wins, including one over then-No. 21 South Carolina, before knocking off defending NCAA champion and then-No. 1 Notre Dame, 3-1, at the UNC Nike Classic in Chapel Hill. The Blue Devils fell 1-0 to Auburn on Sept. 2 before rebounding with a 1-0 win over Ole Miss two days later.

- The Blue Devils are ranked No. 6 by Soccer America, No. 9 by SoccerTimes.com and No. 10 by the NSCAA.

- Duke faces Texas A&M, which has also been ranked nationally this year, in Friday's other action at the Duke Nike Classic.

- Entering the weekend, freshman Kelly Cobb and sophomore Mollie Pathman are Duke's leading scorers with six points each. Cobb has scored three goals this season, all game-winners, while Pathman has a goal and a team-best four assists. Junior keeper Tara Campbell has played all 540 minutes in goal for the Devils, putting together a 0.33 GAA with four shutouts and just two goals allowed in six matches.

- UNCG is 5-12 all-time against Duke, including a 1-7 mark in Durham. The Spartans' lone win over the Blue Devils on their home turf came in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1997, when UNCG took a 3-1 win in overtime. That win was the Spartans' first in NCAA tournament play.

Duke Nike Classic (Durham, N.C.)
Friday, Sept. 9
UNCG vs. North Carolina, 2 p.m.
Texas A&M at Duke, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 11
North Carolina vs. Texas A&M, 12 p.m.
UNCG at Duke, 2:30 p.m.

- UNCG -