No. 19 Women's Soccer Team Hosts First Round Of ACC Tournament
10/29/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 29, 2004
College Park, Md. -
ACC Tournament • First Round
• After finishing its regular season at Penn State last Wednesday, the No. 19 Maryland women's soccer team enters its second season, the ACC tournament, by hosting a first-round game vs. NC State. The game is set for Sunday, Oct. 31 at 3:00 p.m. at Ludwig Field. The game will follow the Maryland men's soccer game with Clemson, which has been moved to Noon.
• The Terps are the No. 8 seed in the ACC Tournament, while NC State enters as the ninth seed. The winner of the game will move on to the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament at the SAS Soccer Center in Cary, N.C., to meet No. 1 seed, and No.1 ranked, North Carolina on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
Terps Ranked For First Time In 2004
• For the first time this season the Terps are ranked in the NSCAA/adidas coaches' poll. After beating No. 10 Duke 1-0, Maryland checks into the Top 25 at No. 19. The Terps are also ranked in the Soccer America (20) and Soccer Times (24) national polls.
A Look Back At Last Week
• Penn State's women's soccer team had not lost at home since the 2001 season and the Terps were not going to be the ones to break that streak on Oct. 27. The No. 3 Nittany Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game's first ten minutes and broke it wide open in a four-goal ten minute stretch in the second half to beat Maryland 6-0. It was the first time since a 4-0 loss at home to UNC on Oct. 5, 2003, that the Terps allowed more than two goals in a game.
Scouting The NC State Wolfpack
• The Wolfpack,7-8-2 on the season, have lost seven straight games to finish the season and are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games. NC State has been shutout in three of its last four games, including a 3-0 loss at No. 4 Virginia to finish the regular season.
The UMD-NCSU Series
• The Maryland-NC State series dates back to the start of the Terps' varsity program in 1987. In fact, NC State, along with Virginia and North Carolina are the only teams to have played Maryland at least once in each varsity season for the past 17 years.
• Earlier this season, the Terps picked up their first home victory of the 2004 season, 2-1, over NC State on October 8 at Ludwig Field. The Wolfpack took and early 1-0 lead, but junior midfielder Mallory Mahar got the Terrapins even at 1-1 with her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Freshman Nataly Arias picked up the assist, her third of the season. Maryland would dominate the contest, but it was an own goal by NC State's Nicole Mayo that proved to be the difference in the game. Simone Dekker served a long cross into the box, looking for freshman Stevie Dunning. Mayo beat Dunning for the ball and tried to head it back to her keeper, but the ball bounced over Megan Connors' shoulder for the game-winning goal in the 42nd minute.
• Maryland and NC State have met in the ACC Tournament on three previous occasions with the Terps winning all three games. The last time the two schools locked up in the ACC's was 1997 and Maryland ended up winning a shootout to advance.
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 86-25-7 (.758) at Ludwig Field
Playing The Best
• Once again, Higgins-Cirovski has scheduled one of the nation's most competitive schedules. The Terps take on six teams in this week's NSCAA poll including three of the top four. The Terps are at No. 1 North Carolina (1-2 loss, Sept. 24), at No. 3 Penn State (0-6 loss, Oct. 27), host No. 4 Virginia (0-0 tie, Oct. 5), vs. No. 9 UCLA (2-1 win, Sept. 12), host No. 15 Duke (1-0 win, Oct. 23), and host No. 16 Florida State (Oct. 13). Wake Forest, which beat the Terps 2-0 in Winston Salem on Oct. 16, and Clemson (1-0 win, Oct. 2) each received votes this week. 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-Cirovski's 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. A month and a half later, Maryland beat No. 10 Duke 1-0 in overtime at Ludwig Field.
Francis And Mahar Moving Up The Charts
• With her two goal, four point effort at Navy, junior Kimmy Francis is all alone in seventh spot on Maryland's all-time points chart with 56. Her six goals on the season have Francis in eighth on the career goals chart with 19.
• 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 11th on the all-time list with 16. Mahar is also moving up the career points list. She is tied with Francis for the team lead with 16 points, a career high for Mahar, and has 38 for her career, just six points away from 10th place.
