Oct. 3, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland women's soccer team hosts a pair of nationally-ranked conference foes this weekend in College Park. The Terps host No. 18 Wake Forest on Friday, October 5, at 5 p.m. at Ludwig Field in the first half of a soccer doubleheader. Maryland then welcomes in No. 12 North Carolina on Sunday, October 7, for a 1 p.m. game.
Event Multimedia
Fans will be able to listen to the game by logging on to www.wmucsports.com or they can follow the game on GameTracker, which is available on UMTerps.com.
Maryland's game against Wake Forest and North Carolina will be available on ACC Select, the web broadcasting service of the Atlantic Coast Conference, approximately two hours following the conclusion of the match. Fans can view the action by logging on to accselect.com. Individual games are available for $3.99 per event or unlimited events can be accessed for a $5.99 monthly subscription fee.
A Quick Look At The Terps
Maryland enters this weekend's matches with a 5-2-2 overall record, 0-1-0 in conference play.
The Terps are coming off of a 2-0 shutout of Lehigh at home on Sept. 30. Junior forward Kaila Sciascia score both goals for Maryland in the victory.
Maryland dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision in double-overtime at No. 14 Clemson in its ACC opener. The Tigers scored the game-winner in the 106th minute with the Terps a man-down due to injury.
Scouting The Demon Deacons
The 18th-ranked Demon Deacons are 6-3-2 (1-0-1 ACC) on the season after winning 3-1 at Virginia Tech and earning a 0-0 tie at No. 4 Virginia last week.
Wake is led by sophomore forward Jill Hutchinson (6G, 2A=14P). She ranks sixth in the ACC in points per game at 1.27. Her 0.55 goals per game average is fifth in the conference.
Defensively, Wake has allowed only eight goals in 11 games. The goalkeeping duo of sophomore Laura Morse and freshman Amanda Barasha have combined for a 0.69 GAA and five shutouts on the season.
Head Coach Tony da Luz is in his 11th season at the helm of the Demon Deacon program and has a record of 124-78-22 (.603) Overall, he is 170-120-22 (.580) in 15 seasons as a head coach.
The Wake Forest Series
The Terps and Demon Deacons have met 15 previous times, once each season from 1995-97, twice each in 1998 and 1999, and once each from 2000-06. Overall, Wake Forest leads the series 8-7, but the Terps have outscored Wake, 29-16 in the 15 games. Ten of the 15 matches all-time have ended in shutouts for the Terps or Deacs.
The last time these two teams met in College Park the Terps stunned the 11th-ranked Demon Deacons, 1-0. Nikki Resnick made 10 saves in the contest to preserve the victory.
In the six meetings between the schools at Ludwig Field, Maryland holds a 5-1 advantage and has outscored the Deacs 14-2 in the six games.
Scouting The Tar Heels
The 12th-ranked Tar Heels are 7-3-0 (1-1-0 ACC) on the season. UNC opened its ACC season with a 2-1 overtime win over No. 17 Florida State on the road last on Sept. 27. Carolina then dropped just its seventh regular-season ACC match in school history when it lost a 1-0 decision at Miami on Sept. 30. North Carolina hosts No. 15 Clemson on Friday, Oct. 5, before coming into College Park on Sunday.
Offensively, Carolina is led by sophomore forward Casey Nogueira, who has six goals for 12 points. Entering this weekend's games, 11 different Tar Heels have scored goals this season, including six with more than one goal.
Defensively, Carolina has allowed only five goals in 10 matches. Junior Anna Rodenbough and redshirt sophomore Ashlyn Harris have split time in net for the Tar Heels, starting five matches each. Harris has slightly better numbers with 12 saves and a 0.40 GAA.
Head Coach Anson Dorrance is in his 29th season at the helm of the Tar Heel program, compiling an overall record of 636-31-18 (.942).
The North Carolina Series
The Maryland-North Carolina series dates back to the start of the Terps' varsity program in 1987. In fact, UNC, along with Virginia and NC State are the only teams to have played Maryland at least once in each varsity season for the past 20 years. UNC leads the all-time series with the Terrapins 25-0-1.
The Terps and Tar Heels last met in College Park in 2005. No. 1-ranked UNC won the game 4-0, but Maryland goalkeeper Nikki Resnick broke the Ludwig Field record for saves in a game with 14.
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 84-35-14 (.684) at Ludwig Field.
Through the seasons, the Terps have had a knack for shutting teams out at Ludwig Field. Maryland has won 57 of its 84 victories (68%) at Ludwig Field via shutout. Add in the nine 0-0 ties the Terps have had at Ludwig Field and it totals 66 times that Maryland has shutout its opponent in 133 games (49.6%).
All-time in ACC games at Ludwig Field the Terrapins are 22-18-7 (.543).
The Last Time ...
With both goals in Maryland's 2-0 win over Lehigh on Sept. 30 Kaila Sciascia became the first Terrapin to score multiple goals in a game since teammate Melissa Hornfeck scored twice in a 6-0 rout of UMBC on Sept. 4, 2006. Sciascia's four points vs. the Mountain Hawks is also the most by a Terp since that UMBC game as Hornfeck added an assist to total five points.
Freshman goalkeeper Yewande Balogun joined former Terp netminders Riki-Ann Serrins and Ali Wolff as Maryland keepers to tally points in a game. Balogun assisted Sciascia's second goal in a 2-0 win over Lehigh, clearing the ball past the Mountain Hawk defense, allowing Sciascia to run onto the ball and finish the play past the diving Lehigh goalkeeper. Serrins was the last Maryland keeper to earn an assist, helping on Emily Janss' goal against Wake Forest on Oct. 25, 1998. Wolff is still the only Terrapin keeper to score a goal when she scored on Duke on Oct. 17, 1997.
Offensive Defense
Maryland's starting defenders - Mary Casey, Ashly Kennedy and Mallory Baker - have all tallied points for the Terps this season. Casey and Kennedy are tied for second on the team with four points. Kennedy has two goals, while Casey has a goal and two assists. Baker has picked up one assist. Freshman goalkeeper Yewande Balogun added her name to Maryland's list of defensive players with points in the 2-0 win over Lehigh on Sept. 30. She became the first Terrapin goalkeeper since 1998 to assist on a goal. That quartet has accounted for 30% of Maryland's points this season.
Playing Overtime
The 0-0 tie with Eastern Kentucky marked the third-straight home opener that has ended in a scoreless tie. In 2005 and 2006 the Terps played to a 0-0 draw against Towson.
Maryland played five overtime games last season, going 0-1-4 in those matches. All four ties ended in 0-0 finishes, tying the 2006 Michigan Wolverines for the most 0-0 ties in a season in NCAA history.
During the past four seasons, Maryland has played 24 overtime games (nearly 40% of its total games) with a record of 4-7-13 in those games. So far this season, the Terps have played three overtime matches, going 1-2-2.
Take a Shot
The 2007 season opener was one for the record books for the Terps. In the 0-0 tie with Eastern Kentucky, Maryland took a school record 55 shots. Nataly Arias led the Terps with 11 shots, while sophomore Emily Maynard took eight.
Impact Freshmen
Through its first four games, Maryland has played seven freshmen, including five who have started matches.
Goalkeeper Yewande Balogun logged all 888 minutes for the Terps in their first nine games and has a 0.51 GAA with five shutouts to her credit. She entered the week sixth in the ACC in goals against average and is tied for third in the conference in shutouts. Balogun is also seventh in the league in saves per game at 2.89.
Mallory Baker and Caitlin McDowell each picked up their first collegiate assists in the 2-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Baker started each of the first two games for Maryland, while McDowell earned the start vs. FDU.
Kylie Ricker earned her first collegiate start against Loyola Marymount at the Hoosier Classic on Sept. 9, and responded with the first goal of her career.
Annesia Faulkner has been a spark off the bench for the Terps, but earned her first collegiate start in the team's ACC opener at No. 14 Clemson.
Terps' Streaks Stopped
The 1-0 double-overtime loss at No. 14 Clemson snapped the Terps' four-game unbeaten streak.
Prior to this season's streak, the last time Maryland had positive results in four consecutive games was 2004 from Oct. 2-13 (1-0 d. at Clemson 10/2; 0-0 t. #6 Virginia 10/5; 2-1 d. NC State 10/8; 1-1 t. #14 Florida State 10/13).
Maryland snapped a three-game shutout streak in its 1-1 tie with Kent State on Sept. 22. Prior to that streak, the last time a Maryland won three matches in a row by shutout was 1999. Maryland won 1-0 at George Mason (10/6), and 2-0 over Rutgers (10/8) and Navy (10/10), respectively, at home. That was the beginning of a five-game winning streak with wins over No. 9 Clemson (10/17), 2-1, and No. 11 Wake Forest (10/22), 1-0.
Playing The Best
Once again in 2007, Maryland will play a challenging schedule.
The Terps take on seven teams ranked in this weeks NSCAA poll. The Terps play No. 4 Virginia (Oct. 25), No. 9 Boston College (Nov. 1), No. 12 North Carolina (Oct. 7), No. 13 USC (L, 2-1 OT), No. 15 Clemson (L, 0-1 OT), No. 17 Florida State (Oct. 11) and No. 25 Wake Forest (Oct. 5). Maryland also plays Duke (Oct. 21), which received votes this week.
Beating The Best
During seven of the past nine seasons, including 2007, 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.
Dreska & MacCormack To Miss 2007 Season
Sophomore midfielder Molly Dreska will miss the entire 2007 season after suffering a knee injury during the summer. She missed the Terps' final five games of the 2006 season due to injury as well.
Junior defender/forward Stephanie MacCormack will miss the remainder of the 2007 season due to a knee injury.
Media Information
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 with "Women's Soccer E-Mail" 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 log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.
GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2007 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.