Aug. 28, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format With Complete Player Notes and Stats
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Game 1
MARYLAND (0-0) vs. FORDHAM (0-0)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2002 * 4:30 p.m.
MORRONE STADIUM (8,574/Grass), STORRS, CONN.
Game 2
MARYLAND at No. 9 CONNECTICUT
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2002 * 2:30 p.m.
MORRONE STADIUM (8,574/Grass), STORRS, CONN.
Game Coverage: WHUS 91.7 FM (whus.org)
TERPS OPEN 2002 SEASON AT UCONN CLASSIC
* With high hopes, the Maryland women's soccer team begins the 2002 regular season at the UConn Classic in Storrs, Conn. this weekend. The Terps, who reached the NCAA Women's College Cup for the sixth time in seven years last season, take on Fordham of the Atlantic 10 in the first game of the four-game event at Morrone Stadium. The Terps and Rams will meet at 4:30 this Friday, Aug. 30, and will be followed by host No. 9 Connecticut taking on Hartford at 7 p.m.
* The Terps will play the host Huskies on Sunday, Sept. 1, to conclude the tournament. That game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. after Fordham plays Hartford at Noon. The Maryland-Connecticut game will be broadcast in Connecticut can be heard live on the Internet across the world at whus.org (a link to this broadcast will be provided on umterps.com as well).
* Connecticut is ranked No. 9 in the preseason NSCAA Coaches' poll released last week. They are No. 19 in the preseason Soccer America poll and listed among others receiving votes in the Soccer Buzz preseason poll. Maryland is also listed under others receiving votes in the Soccer Buzz poll.
PLAYING THE BEST
* Maryland will take on 12 teams that played in last season's Women's College Cup including three teams that advanced to the NCAA national quarterfinals including runner-up North Carolina. In addition to the Tar Heels, Maryland will also take on 2001 NCAA qualifiers (Clemson, Connecticut, Duke, Florida State, Loyola, Notre Dame, Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia, Wake Forest and William & Mary). Of those 12 teams, eight were ranked in the top 20 of the final NSCAA poll.
* "The only way to be the best is to play the best," said head coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski. "We have added high caliber teams such as Connecticut, Notre Dame and Penn State to go along with the challenging ACC schedule. I think we have one of the best schedules in the country.
* In taking on No. 9 UConn this Sunday, Maryland will get a quick taste of what much of its season will be like -- games against top ranked teams. Once again, Higgins-Cirovski has scheduled one of the nation's competitive schedules. The Terps take on eight teams in the preseason NSCAA poll including five in the top nine. The Terps face No. 2 North Carolina (Nov. 1), No. 6 Virginia (Oct. 11), No. 7 Notre Dame (Sept. 15), No. 8 Penn State (Oct. 8), No. 9 Connecticut (Sept. 1), No. 14 Clemson (Oct. 20), No. 17 Florida State (Oct. 25) and No. 19 Rutgers (Sept. 6).
* In the preseason Soccer America poll, nine Terp opponents are also ranked: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Virginia, No. 6 Penn State, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 13 Florida State, No. 16 Clemson, No. 19 Connecticut, No. 21 Duke and No. 24 Rutgers.
* In the preseason Soccer Buzz poll, seven Terp foes are ranked: No. 2 North Carolina, No. 4 Virginia, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 10 Florida State, No. 15 Rutgers and No. 16 Clemson.
* During each of Higgins-Cirovski's season at Maryland, she has led the Terps to at least one upset of a top-10 ranked team, leading Maryland to a 4-3 win at No. 9 Duke on Sept. 19, 1999 and a 2-1 victory over Clemson on Oct. 17, 1999; a 3-1 win over No. 4 Penn State on Aug. 29 and a 1-0 overtime over No. 8 Clemson, last season on Oct. 13.
TERP WINS OVER TOP 10
Oct. 8, 1993 Maryland 2, #8 William& Mary 1
Oct. 1, 1995 #12 Maryland 2, #7 Duke 1
Oct. 12, 1997 #19 Maryland 2, #9 Clemson 0
Nov. 7, 1997 #18 Maryland 2, #8 Duke 1
Sept. 18, 1998 Maryland 3, #9 Duke 1
Sept. 19, 1999 Maryland 4, #9 Duke 3 (OT)
Oct. 17, 1999 Maryland 2, #9 Clemson 1 (OT)
Aug. 29, 2000 #23 Maryland 3, #4 Penn State 1
Oct. 13, 2001 Maryland 1, #8 Clemson 0 (OT)
TERPS IN SEASON OPENERS
* Maryland holds an 8-7 record in season openers, dating back to 1987.
* The Terps have won their last three season openers -- two on the road -- defeating George Washington, 2-0 on Aug. 29, 1999, in Shannon Higgins-Cirovski's Maryland coaching debut. They also won the 2000 opener, 1-0 at Rutgers on Carly Viher's first-career goal. In last season's opener, the Terps topped Towson, 3-0 on, Aug. 31, 2001 as Katie Ludwig scored twice and Lindsay Givens was credited with her first career goal. Ali Wolff posted the shutout, giving Maryland three straight season-opening shutouts -- all under Higgins-Cirovski.
* This is just the second season opener in a neutral site setting -- playing Fordham at Connecticut. Maryland won its only other season opener held at a neutral site -- Honolulu, Hawaii. On Aug. 30, 1996, the Terps topped St. Mary's (Calif.), 1-0 at the Hawaii Tournament. The Terps have won the last two season-openers that were held away from College Park, defeating Rutgers, 1-0 in 2000 and George Washington in 1999. They have a three-game winning streak in winning their first road game of the season -- adding last season's 2-0 win at Duke in the first road game of 2001 on Sept. 2.
* The Terps are 9-5 in home openers. Maryland has won seven straight home openers, dating back to 1994. Over that four-game stretch the Terps have outscored their opponents, 29-4.
SEASON OPENERS
Year Season Opener
1987 W 8-0, Catholic
1988 L 1-2, at UNCG
1989 W 2-0, Creighton
1990 L 0-2, G. Wash.
1991 L 0-3, UNCG
1992 L 0-2, Duke
1993 L 0-7, N.Carolina
1994 L 0-2, at N. Carolina
1995 W 6-0, Va. Tech
1996 W 1-0, St. Mary's
1997 W 3-1, Wright St.
1998 L 0-3, at Penn St.
1999 W 2-0, at G.Wash.
2000 W 1-0, at Rutgers
2001 W 3-0, Towson
THE MARYLAND-FORDHAM SERIES
* This is the first meeting between the Terps and Rams.
* Maryland has a 13-12-3 all-time record against teams from the current Atlantic 10, having only played five of the teams in the league before: Dayton (0-1-0), George Washington (8-6-2), LaSalle (4-1-1), Richmond (0-2-0), Temple (1-2-0).
* Head coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski has plenty of experience against A-10 teams though, having coached at George Washington for seven seasons and earning league coach of the year twice (1994 and 1996).
* Against Fordham, Higgins-Cirovski has a 2-0-1 record, all while at GW.
The MARYLAND-CONNECTICUT SERIES
* The Terps and Huskies renew a rivalry that featured a home-and-home series in 1997 and 1998 with the Huskies winning in the Nutmeg State and the teams tying in College Park.
* Then-No. 4 UConn beat No. 18 Maryland in the game in Storrs on Nov. 2, 1997, 3-2 as the Huskies scored with 12:55 left in regulation. The Terps' goals came from Michelle Salmon and Jackie Mynarski.
* The following season, the Terps tied the Huskies, 2-2 on Oct. 11, 1998 at Ludwig Field. The game was Maryland's first positive result (win/tie) against a top-5 team, as UConn was No. 4 at the time as well as undefeated at 12-0 entering the game. Maryland rallied from a 2-0 deficit as Terri Greer scored her first career goal to tie the game at two with 11:15 left in the second half. The other Maryland goal from Robin McCullough.
THE 2002 CAPTAINS
* Maryland will have a trio of juniors serve as team captains this season: midfielder Jen Biscoe (Baltimore, Md.) and defenders Lindsay Givens (Downingtown, Pa.) and Carly Viher (Mentor, Ohio). Givens served as a captain last season along with graduated goalkeeper Ali Wolff. Biscoe and Givens were both named to the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic team for last season. Viher returns to action this season after sitting out last year as suffering a torn ACL just prior to the start of the year.
RECAPPING THE PRESEASON WIN OVER RICHMOND
* The Maryland women's soccer team won its only preseason tune-up with a 5-0 victory over Richmond at Ludwig Field on Monday night. Maryland's freshmen class gave a glimpse of what might be on the way in 2002 as striker Ali Andrzejewski (Lutherville, Md.) scored three goals in the win. Fellow newcomer Simone Dekker (Ringwood, N.J.) assisted Andrzejewski's first goal -- a breakaway -- and added the Terps' second goal in the 38th minute off a pass from junior Audra Poulin (Silver Spring, Md.) putting Maryland up 2-0 at halftime.
* Junior Jen Biscoe (Baltimore, Md.) netted the team's third goal in the 48th minute on a long bomb into the low right corner. Andrzejewski went to work late as she scored on a pass from freshman Danielle Malagari (Clarksburg, Md.) in the 62nd minute. Then, the two-time Maryland state player of the year finished the hat trick with a blast into the right side of the net in the 80th minute.
* The Terps' other freshmen played key roles in the win as Mariel Wilner (Owings Mills, Md.) started in goal and made two saves in the first half to start the shutout finished by juniors Kristen Barnhill (Charlottesville, Va.) and Lynn Scharf (Falls Church, Va.) . Also, freshmen Mallory Mahar (Medina, Ohio) and Kristin McHugh (Quince Orchard, Md.) started for the Terps and played key roles in the win.
MEDIA INFORMATION
* WMUC Radio: Maryland's student radio station WMUC (88.1 FM) will broadcast up to 11 Maryland women's soccer games in 2002. A pregame show will air approximately 30 minutes prior to kickoff. WMUC's broadcasts can be heard live on the Internet at wmucsports.com and will be linked to umterps.com. Josh Madden will handle play-by-play. He will be assisted by Mark Zaner and Ariel Agami.
* Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland women's soccer news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email women's soccer contact Jason Yellin at jyellin@wam.umd.edu with the message "Women's Soccer Email" as the subject and you will receive every update distributed about the team.
* Terrapin Fan Phone: For up-to-date reports, comments from coaches, and other Maryland athletic department information, phone the Terrapin Fan Phone at (301) 314-TERP.
TEAM FACTS
Maryland:
2001 Record: 10-7-2 (3-4 ACC)
2002 Preseason Ranking: Soccer Buzz (Rec. Votes)
Head Coach: Shannon Higgins-Cirovski (UNC '90)
Coach's Record: 98-84-14 (.536)/11th season
Coach's Record at UM: 29-28-3 (.508)/4th season
Ass't Coach: Kerry Dziczkaniec (George Washington '93)
Ass't Coach: Steve Campbell (Maryland '96)
Leading Ret. Scorer: Jen Biscoe (5 g, 5 a, 15 pts.)
Fordham:
2001 Record: 10-9-1 (4-7 Atlantic 10)
Head Coach: Ness Selmani (Prishtina Univ. '72)
Coach's Record: 38-60-12 (.440)/7th season
Coach's Record at Fordham: 38-60-12 (.440)/7th season
Ass't Coach: Robyn Van Praag (Penn State '96)
Leading Scorer: Kirstin Gellatly (14 g, 3 a, 31 pts.)
Connecticut:
2001 Record: 18-6-0 (5-1 Big East)
2002 Preseason Ranking: NSCAA (9th), S.America (19th)
Head Coach: Len Tsantiris (Connecticut '77)
Coach's Record: 362-94-22 (.780)/22nd season
Coach's Record at UConn: 362-94-22 (.780)/22nd season
Ass't Coach: Lisa Cole (Pacific Lutheran '96)
Ass't Coach: Sarah Barnes (Connecticut '97)
Leading Ret. Scorer: Kristen Graczyk (10 g, 4 a, 24 pts.)
ACC GAMES THIS WEEK
Friday, August 30
Kent State at NC State, 4:00 pm
Maryland vs. Fordham @UConn, 4:30 pm
Wake Forest vs. Oregon @ Fla. State, 5:00 pm
Clemson at Georgia, 7:00 pm
Tennessee at Duke, 7:00 pm
Oregon State at Florida State, 7:00 pm
North Carolina at Nebraska, 7:00 pm
Saturday, August 31
St Joseph's (Pa.) at Virginia, 7:00 pm
Sunday, September 1
North Carolina vs. USC @ Nebraska, 11:00 am
Wake Forest vs. Oregon St. @ Fla. State, Noon
Tennessee at NC State, 1:00 pm
Oregon at Florida State, 2:00 pm
Maryland at Connecticut, 2:30 pm
Duke at Texas, 7:00 pm
Monday, September 2
Wofford at Clemson, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, September 3
Wake Forest at Elon, 4:00 pm
