Terp Men and Women Host Soccer Doubleheader On Saturday

Oct. 22, 2004

The Terrapin soccer teams will play a doubleheader against nationally-ranked opponents Saturday, Oct. 23, as the men's team takes on No. 16 Virginia Commonwealth at 4 p.m., and the women battle 10th-ranked Duke at 7 p.m. The men are coming off a 1-0 victory over Penn on Wednesday and the women are fresh off 3-1 victory over Navy.

No. 25 Maryland vs. No. 16 Virginia Commonwealth

The Terps lead the all-time series with Virginia Commonwealth, 4-1. The two teams were scheduled to meet in 2003, but weather forced the game to be cancelled. The teams last met in 2002, when the Terps defeated the Rams 4-1 at Ludwig Field.

Maryland is 2-2 against ranked opponents this season.

Terp Tidbits

Goalkeeper Noah Palmer recorded the 27th shutout of his career with the 1-0 win over Penn. That ties him for first all-time at Maryland with Dom Macina.

Domenic Mediate scored his fifth goal in five games with his score against Penn. He has 11 points in Maryland's last six games. The score against the Quakers was his second game-winner this season and the the 10th of his career. It was his 23rd career goal.

Abe Thompson has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.

Sophomore Pat Wilson earned the first start of his career against the Nittany Lions.

Freshman Kevin Reiman scored his first collegiate point against Penn State by assisting on Mediate's goal.

The Penn State game marked the first time the Terps have faced a deficit at the half all season.

Against Tech, Ian Rodway scored his first goal of the season and the fifth of his career.

A.J. Godbolt's assist on the Rodway goal was his first point in nine games. Godbolt also played a part in getting the penalty kick called against the Hokies, getting pulled down in the box on a breakaway.

Stephen King's penalty kick was the first of his career against the Hokies. Maryland is 3-4 on PK's this season. King leads the team with three game-winners this season.

Several Terps are on the verge of cracking the top 10 single season charts at Maryland. Jason Garey needs just two more points for a tie in 10th place on the single-season points chart, and three more goals to be tied for 10th for goals in a season. Garey and Michael Dello-Russo need just one more assist to make the top 10 for assists, while Domenic Mediate can get there with two more.

Scouting The Rams

Virginia Commonwealth enters Saturday's match winners of six of its last seven. The Rams have a 9-3-1 record on the year.

The Rams have not allowed a goal in its last three games. Virginia Commonwealth should be fresh for the game against Maryland as the Rams are without a mid-week game this week.

VCU has been shut out just once in 13 games in 2004.

Maryland and Virginia Commonwealth have three common opponents so far in 2004 in Wake Forest, North Carolina and William & Mary. The Terps were victorious over UNC, while falling to the Deacons and the Tribe. VCU dropped decisions to Wake and UNC, but defeated William & Mary.

Dominic Oduro has 11 goals on the season, including two game-winners. He leads the Rams with 23 points. Brian Morris has five goals and three assists for 13 points for VCU.

Samuel Asante does not have a goal this season, but he leads the team with seven assists.

Saul Montaro has seen the majority of the action in net for VCU. He has a 0.91 GAA, making 30 saves in 1182 minutes of work. He has three shutouts on the year.

Maryland vs. No. 10 Duke

After a one-game break from ACC play, the Maryland women's soccer team wraps up its regular-season conference schedule by hosting the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils Saturday, October 23 at Ludwig Field at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised on CN8, the Comcast Network.

Senior Night

Prior to the game, Jennifer Lovecchio and Lindsay Niehaus will be honored in recognition for their contributions to the Maryland women's soccer program.

Alumni Return

The game will also be Alumni Night for the Terps' women's soccer program. Returning alumni will be acknowledged at halftime.

A Look Back At Last Week

Kimmy Francis scored two goals, including Maryland's first penalty kick on the season, to lead the Terps to a 3-1 victory at Navy on Tuesday evening. The Terrapins remain unbeaten in non-conference play for 2004 and in the process handed the Mids their first home loss of the season. Francis got the Terps on the board in the 38th minute on a back-heel flick with her right foot to redirect a Simone Dekker pass into the goal. Stevie Dunning was also creditied with an assist on the goal. After Navy tied the game in the 62nd minute, Mallory Mahar put the Terps back on top with a hard shot into the upper right corner of the net for her team-leading seventh goal of the year.

Francis added the insurance goal on the penalty kick in the 78th minute. Midshipmen defender Lindsay Adlam was called for a hand ball in the 18-yard box to draw the penalty.

The Terps dropped a key ACC game at Wake Forest Saturday night 2-0. The Demon Deacons scored their first goal on a penalty kick by defender Alli Hunt in the 20th minute. Wake's Sarah Kozey scored the insurance goal, her 10th goal of the season, in the 58th minute off a punt from Deacon goalkeeper Heather Currie. For Maryland, Kimmy Francis tallied five shots, while goalkeeper Nikki Resnick made seven saves.

Scouting The Blue Devils

The Blue Devils are 12-4-0 on the season and 5-2-0 in the ACC. On the road Duke is 3-2-0 in 2004, but have not played a road since Oct. 6 when it lost a tough 2-1 game against No. 6 Virginia.

Duke has dominated its opposition on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball this season. The Blue Devils are ranked fourth in the nation in goals per game (3.38) and have allowed less than than a goal per game. As a team, Duke has outshot the opposition 303-104 and have scored 54 goals vs. giving up only 16. Individually, the Blue Devils are equally impressive. Casey McClusky is ranked among the top 15 in the nation in both points per game (15th/2.19 ppg) and goals per game (12th/0.94 gpg). Rebecca Moros is 11th in the nation with 0.69 assists per game.

The UM-duke Series

Duke holds a 11-9-2 in the all-time matchups with Maryland. In one of the fiercest rivalries, the unranked or lower-ranked team has won seven of the last nine games in the series. In this week¹s NSCAA poll Duke is ranked 10th, while the Terps are unranked but receiving votes. Maryland has won eight of the last 10 in the series, including a 3-1 record at Ludwig Field during that span.

All-Time at Ludwig Field

Since its opening in 1995, Ludwig Field has proved to be a tremendous home-field advantage for the Terps women's soccer team. All-time Maryland is 85-25-7 (.756) at Ludwig Field.

Playing The Best

Once again, Higgins-Cirovski has scheduled one of the nation¹s most competitive schedules. The Terps take on six teams in this week¹s NSCAA poll including three of the top five. The Terps are at No. 2 North Carolina (1-2 loss, Sept. 24), at No. 3 Penn State (Oct. 27), host No. 5 Virginia (0-0 tie, Oct. 5), vs. No. 8 UCLA (2-1 win, Sept. 12), host No. 10 Duke (Oct. 23), host No. 14 Florida State (Oct. 13), at No. 22 Clemson (1-0 win, Oct. 2). Wake Forest, which beat the Terps 2-0 in Winston Salem on Oct. 16, has received votes in the past few polls. The orginal schedule also included a match with then No. 3 Washington on Sept. 17, but the game was cancelled due to inclement weather.

During five of Higgins-Cirovski¹s six seasons at Maryland, she has led the Terps to at least one upset win or tie 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, 2000; a 1-0 overtime over No. 8 Clemson on Oct. 13, 2001 and a 1-1 tie at No. 2 North Carolina last season, on Nov. 1, 2002. Most recently, the Terps stunned No. 3 UCLA 2-1 at the Virginia Soccer Classic on Sept. 12, 2004.

Francis And Mahar Moving Up The Charts

With her two goal, four point effort at Navy, junior Kimmy Francis is tied for seventh on Maryland¹s all-time points chart with 54. Her five goals on the season have tied Francis for eighth on the career goals chart with 18.

Not just a goal scorer, Francis is also among the all-time leaders in assists. Her four assists on the season leads the team and has tied her for fifth on the career charts with 18. The next closest current Terp is junior Simone Dekker with eight career assists.

Also charging up the all-time charts is junior Mallory Mahar. With seven goals on the season, Mahar is now tied for 10th on the all-time list with 16. Mahar is also moving up the career points list. She leads the team with 15 points, a career high, on the season and has 37 for her career, just seven points away from 10th place.

Two or Less

Opponents of the Terrapins have found goals few and far between so far this season. In fact, the Terps defense has been so stingy that no opponent has scored more than two goals in a game. The breakdown for goals scored on Maryland this season is - 0 Goals: 3; 1 Goal: 5; 2 Goals: 5.

During their last six games the Terps (3-1-2 in those four) have allowed only five goals; one each to NC State, No. 14 Florida State and Navy, and two at Wake Forest.

Dating back to the 2003 season, Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score more than two goals in 23 straight games. The last time the Terps allowed an opponent to score more than twice was October 5, 2003 against No. 1 North Carolina at Ludwig Field. The Tar Heels posted a 4-0 shutout. The last time a non-ACC opponent scored 3 or more goals in a game was Penn State, a 3-0 win, in College Park on Sept. 7, 2003.

Terp Men and Women Host Soccer Doubleheader On Saturday

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