Sept. 22, 2005

College Park, Md. - After finishing up its non-conference portion of the schedule this past weekend, the Maryland Terrapin women's soccer team begins ACC play with a road contest at Clemson tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Riggs Field.

Scouting the Tigers
• Clemson is 5-2-1 on the season after splitting a pair of games this past weekend (losing 1-0 to Middle Tennessee State, defeating Wofford 1-0). The Tigers' eight opponents so far in 2005 have a combined win-loss record of 23-27-9 (466). For comparison, the Terps' 2005 opponents thus far have a combined win-loss record of 37-16-4 (.684).

• Clemson is led by two-time first team all-ACC selection Allison Graham. The senior midfielder leads the Tigers in points (13), goals (4), assists (5), shots (18) and game-winning goals (2). Graham is now 10th on the Tigers' all-time points list with 58 and has moved up to fourth in career assists with 28. Graham's running-mate on offense is fellow senior Lydia Vandenbergh, who is second on the team with two goals and three assists for seven points.

• Defensively, the Tigers have allowed only six goals in eight games, but only three of those have been scored on sophomore keeper Ashley Phillips, who has made 37 saves this season.

• The Tigers are coming off of a 2004 season that saw them compile a 10-8-2 record, including a 4-4-1 mark in ACC play (T-5th). Clemson lost six starters from that squad that earned an NCAA Tournament bid, but do return 15 letterwinners.

• Head Coach Todd Bramble is in his fifth season at the helm of the Tiger program and has a record of 55-30-6 (.637). He has never defeated the Terps in five career meetings (0-5).

Could It Be Another One Goal Game?
• Maryland and Clemson have a history of playing tight games including last season's game at Riggs Field, as the Terps beat the Tigers, 1-0 on Oct. 2, 2004. Overall, Maryland leads the series 9-6-0, but Clemson holds a slim 19-17 scoring advantage in the 15 games. Nine of the last 11 games in the series have been one-goal affairs. Maryland is 3-6 all-time vs. Clemson on the road, 2-5 all-time at Riggs Field.

• This will be the second-straight meeting between the two schools at Riggs Field, marking the first time since 1995 that the two schools will have back-to-back meetings on the same field.

• In last year's game, the Terps held on for a 1-0 victory over the Tigers at Riggs Field. Nikki Resnick proved to be the difference in goal for the Terps, making six saves.

• In the 2003 ACC Quarterfinals, Kimmy Francis scored both goals to give the Terps a 2-1 win and a trip to the ACC Semi's for the second consecutive season.

• The regular-season match between the two schools was more of the same as the Terrapins jumped out to a 2-0 lead with Mallory Mahar trickling a header past the Tiger goalkeeper for the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute. All-time at home the Terps are a perfect 6-0 vs. Clemson.

The Last Time at Clemson
Clemson, S.C. - Kimmy Francis' goal in the 55th minute gave the University of Maryland's women's soccer team its first ACC win of the season, a 1-0 win at Clemson on Saturday night at Riggs Field.

"This was a total team effort tonight," said Maryland head coach Shannon Higgins-Cirovski . "We had a good game plan and we really executed it well. I'm proud of the way we played against a good Clemson team. Hopefully we can take this and build some momentum through the rest of the season."

The first half saw the Terps and the Tigers trade possessions, but each team was only able to get one shot on goal. Maryland was able to pressure Clemson and force four corner kicks in the first half.

The second half saw the momentum swing to the Terps when freshman midfielder Stevie Dunning, who was making just her second career start, found Francis with a touch pass just outside the six-yard box. Francis then faked a hard shot and dinked the ball into the far right corner of the net for a 1-0 Terrapin lead.

Clemson turned up the pressure after giving up the goal and would outshoot Maryland 13-4 in the second half. But sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Resnick was up to the challenge, finishing the match with six saves.

Francis' goal moved her into a tie with Stephanie Magro for 10th spot on the all-time goal scoring list at Maryland with 16 goals. She also moved into eighth place on the career points list with 50.

The win was the Terrapins' fifth straight victory over Clemson, which was ranked as high as seventh in the NSCAA/adidas coaches' poll earlier in the season, and raised Maryland's season record to 4-3-1, 1-3-0 in the ACC. The one-goal margin is nothing new in the Maryland-Clemson series, as nine of the last 11 games between the two schools have been decided by one goal.

Playing The Best
• Once again, the Terps boast one of the nation's most competitive schedules. The Terps take on eight teams in the preseason NSCAA poll including three of the top five and six of the top 10. The Terps host No. 1 North Carolina (Oct. 2), host No. 2 Penn State (0-3 L), at No. 5 Notre Dame (0-6 L), at No. 7 Duke (Oct. 16), host No. 8 Wake Forest (Sept. 30), host No. 9 Boston College (Oct. 29), at No. 12 Florida State (Oct. 6), at No. 13 Virginia (Oct. 23), and vs. No. 18 UConn at the Notre Dame Invitational (1-2 L, 2OT).

• During five of the past six seasons, Maryland has at least one upset win or tie of a top-10 ranked team: 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. The Terps topped all of those victories with a 1-0 shutout of No. 2 seed Penn State in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The win also snapped the Nittany Lions 39-game home winning streak and was head coach Paula Wilkins' first-ever loss at Jeffrey Field.

Media Information
• WMUC Radio: Maryland's student radio station WMUC (88.1 FM) will broadcast every home Maryland women's soccer game in 2005. 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.

• 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 Patrick Fischer at pfischer@umd.edu with the message "Women's Soccer Email" as the subject and you will receive every update.

• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please locate www. umterps.com on the Internet.