Oct. 4, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland women's soccer team (4-6-1) hosts a pair of ACC matches this week against Sunshine State opponents. The fifth-ranked Florida State Seminoles visit Ludwig Field for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, October 5. One Sunday, October 8, the Miami Hurricanes will make their first-ever trip into College Park for a 1 p.m. contest.

Fans will be able to listen to the games by logging on to www.wmucsports.com or they can follow the games on GameTracker, which is available on UMTerps.com.

Scouting The Seminoles
• Florida State, ranked fifth in the country in the latest NSCAA/adidas coaches' poll, is 8-1-1 (2-1-1 ACC) on the season after going 1-0-1 at home this past weekend (tying #8 Virginia 0-0, beating Va. Tech 2-1).

• FSU is led by junior forward Selin Kuralay (6G, 1A=13P) and senior midfielder India Trotter (4G, 2A=10P). Overall the Seminole offense has racked up 16 goals and 11 assists on the season. They are outscoring their opponents 16-6 and have taken 163 shots and allowed only 95 to their opposition.

• Defensively, Florida State has allowed only six goals in 10 games. Senior goalkeeper Ali Mims has made 27 saves with a 0.59 GAA and five shutouts on the season.

• Head Coach Mark Krikorian is in his second season at the helm of the FSU program and has compiled a 28-5-2 (.829) record as a Seminole. Overall, he has a head coaching record of 196-54-7 (.776) in 13 seasons.

Scouting The Hurricanes
• Miami is 7-4-0 (1-3-0 ACC) on the season,and is coming off a stunning 1-0 victory over #8 Virginia last Sunday in Florida.

• Offensively, sophomore forward Rachael Rigamat leads the team with seven points on three goals and an assist, while fellow sophomore Paulette Ricks-Chambers is tied with Rigamat for the team lead in goals with three.

• Defensively, Miami is led by junior goalkeeper Lauren McAdam who has 54 saves on the season and has allowed 13 goals. For the year, the Hurricanes are being out shot by their opponents 142-109.

• Head Coach Tricia Taliafero is in her fifth season at the helm of the Miami program, compiling a record of 36-46-3 (.441). Overall she has a career record as a head coach of 74-69-6 (.517) in eight seasons.

• Taliafero is a 1995 graduate of Maryland and was a four-year letterwinner (1992-95) for the women's soccer team. She still ranks among the all-time record holders at Maryland in points (T18th, 35), goals (T15th, 14) and game-winning goals (T15th, 4).

A Quick Look At The Terps
• Maryland finished a tough two-game road trip through North Carolina with an 0-2 record after dropping a 2-1 decision at #14 Wake Forest on Sept. 28 and losing 3-0 at #2 North Carolina on Oct. 1.

• The Terps picked up their first conference goal in the 83rd minute of play vs. the Demon Deacons. Junior co-captain Ashly Kennedy played a brilliant through-ball from center midfield to the left side of the Wake Forest defensive third, where a streaking Kaila Sciascia ran onto the ball inside the 18-yard box and punched it in over Wake goalkeeper Laura Morse for the goal.

• In the capper of the two-game trip, perennial powerhouse North Carolina, ranked 2nd in the nation, proved too much for the Terps, winning 3-0 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. N.C. Maryland battled the Tar Heels, but fell behind in the 14th minute when Heather O'Reilly bent a shot into the lower left corner of the Terrapin goal for a 1-0 UNC lead. Senior All-ACC goalkeeper Nikki Resnick was brilliant in goal for the Terps, making nine saves on the afternoon.

All-Time vs. The ACC
• The Terps have an all-time record of 33-73-10 (.328) in regular season ACC play.

The Florida State Series
• The Terps and Seminoles have met 14 previous times, once each season from 1995-2000, twice each from 2001-03, and once the last two seasons. Overall, FSU leads the series 7-6-1, but the Terps are outscoring the Noles, 25-23 in the 14 games. Florida State has had the better of the series since 2001, winning six of the eight games between the two schools.

• Last season saw 17th-ranked Florida State come out with a 3-1 win at home over the Terps. FSU took a 1-0 lead in the third minute of play on a Maryland own-goal, but the Terps tied the game a minute and a half later on an unassisted goal by Kimmy Francis. The Noles scored twice in first 15 minutes of the second half to put the game out of reach.

• The last time FSU visited Ludwig Field on Oct 13, 2004, the two schools tied for the first time in 13 meetings. The 14th-ranked Seminoles took a 1-0 lead in the 54th minute on a Julia Schnugg goal. Time seemed to be running out for the Terps, but a miracle off the foot of Nataly Arias saved the game. Arias fired a 35-yard blast past FSU goalkeeper Joy McKenzie in the 75th minute earned a 1-1 tie for the Terrapins.

• In 2003 the two teams met twice. FSU shutout the Terps 1-0 in the ACC semifinals. In the regular season match-up, Mallory Mahar scored in the fifth minute, the second of her career vs. the Seminoles, but Florida State would comeback to take a 2-1 victory in Tallahasee.

The Miami Series
• The Maryland-Miami series is in its infancy with the teams meeting just twice previously - a 2-1 Miami victory in 2004 and a 2-0 Miami win in 2005 - both at Cobb Field.

• This will be Miami's first-ever trip to Ludwig Field.

• Last season's meeting, a 2-0 Hurricane win, saw Miami jump out early in the second minute of play with an unassisted goal by Kely Pflunger. The game, which was a back-and-forth struggle, turned in the Hurricanes' favor in the 50th minute when Danielle Malagari was ejected after receiving back-to-back yellow cards. Nine minutes later Miami tacked on an insurance goal for the 2-0 victory.

• In that 2004 meeting, neither team could find a way to score in the first half, but the Hurricanes' Lindsay Curtain broke the scoreless tie in the 60th minute when she fired a shot that deflected off Terrapin keeper Nikki Resnick for a 1-0 Miami lead. The Terps struck back three minutes later when Simone Dekker scored her first goal of the season to knot the game at 1-1. The game stayed knotted until the 85th minute when Cynthia Dongo scored the game-winner off a pass from Sheuneen Ta.

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 79-34-10 (.683) at Ludwig Field.

• Through the seasons, the Terps have had a knack for shutting teams out at Ludwig Field. Maryland has won 53 of its 79 games (67%) at Ludwig Field via shutout. Add in the six 0-0 ties the Terps have had at Ludwig Field and it totals 59 times that Maryland has shutout its opponent in 122 games (48.4%).

• All-time in ACC games at Ludwig Field the Terrapins are 20-17-6 (.535).

Playing The Best
• Once again in 2006, Maryland will play one of toughest schedules in the nation.

• The Terps take on six teams ranked in the latest NSCAA poll including three of the top five teams. The Terps faced No. 4 UCLA (L, 0-3/Aug. 27) at the Penn State Classic. They will host No. 5 Florida State (Oct. 5), No. 16 Virginia (Oct. 22) and No. 24 Duke (Oct. 14). Maryland traveled to No. 2 North Carolina (L, 0-3/Oct. 1) and No. 12 Wake Forest (L, 1-2/Sept. 28). The Terps beatTennessee (W, 1-0/Aug. 25) which was ranked at the time and is currently receiving votes.

Beating The Best
• During seven of the past eight seasons, Maryland has at least one upset win or tie of a top-10 ranked team: 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 on Nov. 1, 2002. 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. The Terps extended that streak in 2005 with a 2-1 upset of No. 8 Boston College on Oct. 29 at Ludwig Field. Jeffrey Field proved lucky for the Terps again in the 2006 season opener as they knocked off No. 10 Tennessee 1-0 at the Penn State Classic on Aug. 25.

Media Information
• WMUC Radio: Maryland's student radio station WMUC (88.1 FM) will broadcast most home Maryland women's soccer games in 2006 and select road games. 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.

• GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2006 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.