Nov. 2, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 13 Maryland Terrapin women's soccer team (12-4-2, 4-4-2 ACC) heads to Cary, N.C., as the No. 6 seed in the 2009 ACC Tournament. The Terps will battle the third seed, No. 4 North Carolina, on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park. The two teams will be familiar with each other since they faced each other just four days prior on Sunday, Nov. 4 on the final day of the regular season.

• The winner of Wednesday's match will advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals and face the winner No. 2 seeded Boston College/No. 7 seeded Virginia match which will be played at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

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Spencer & Hubka Earn All-ACC Honors
• Sophomore Jasmyne Spencer was named to the All-ACC first team, while Danielle Hubka earned a spot on the All-Freshman team. Click here for the full release.

Maryland In The ACC Tournament
• Maryland has an all-time record of 8-18-3 (Maryland won all three ties on penalty kicks) in ACC Tournament games dating back to the first year of the event in 1988.

• The last time the Terps made the conference tournament was 2005 as the No. 8 seed. Maryland matched-up with No. 1 seed North Carolina and was dealt a 3-1 defeat by the Tar Heels. UNC scored three goals in the first 10 minutes. Ashly Kennedy scored Maryland's goal in the 69th minute.

• In 2004, the Terps played NC State in the first round game at Ludwig Field (Boston College had not yet joined the conference). Maryland was the No. 8 seed, while the Wolfpack was seeded ninth. The game was played to a 0-0 tie through 110 minutes so a shootout determined which team would advance. All-ACC goalkeeper Nikki Resnick made two huge saves in the shootout and Maryland advanced 4-2. The Terps played No. 1 seed North Carolina in the quarterfinals and that game went into overtime with a 0-0 score, but UNC got a goal from Heather O'Reilly in the 103rd minute to advance with a 1-0 win.

• 2003 was the last time the Terrapins won an ACC tournament game, topping Clemson 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Maryland, the No. 6 seed, got two goals from Kimmy Francis to defeat the No. 3 seed Tigers. No. 2 seed Florida State knocked off the Terps in the semifinals, 1-0.

• In 2002,  Maryland advanced the ACC Tournament semifinals for the first time in three years, as they knocked off host Florida State, 4-2 on Nov. 7, before a television audience on Sunshine Network. All four goals in the win came from freshmen: Ali Andrzejewski, Simone Dekker, Kimmy Francis and Mallory Mahar. Maryland lost North Carolina, the eventual league champion, North Carolina in the semifinals, 4-0.

• In 1999, as its highest seed ever, No. 2 seed Maryland advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 quarterfinal win over No. 7 seed Duke on Nov. 4, 1999 before falling to No. 3 seed Wake Forest, 1-0, in the semis on Nov. 5.

• Maryland had its only runs to the ACC finals in 1995 and 1997, the only other time the ACC Women's Soccer Tournament was held at Wake Forest. In 1995, as the No. 3 seed, the Terps defeated Clemson 2-0 in the first round and NC State 1-0 in the second round before falling to eventual champion North Carolina 3-0.

• In 1997, Maryland escaped NC State in the first round, 4-3, in penalty kicks after tying 1-1 in regulation. The Terps advanced to the finals with a 2-1 win over Duke. In that win, Jackie Mynarski scored Maryland's first goal, while Keri Sarver added the winner. Ali Wolff made five saves for the win. The Terps dropped the final to North Carolina, 4-0.

As the No. 6 Seed
• This season marks the fifth time Maryland will be the No. 6 seed at the ACC Tournament. The Terps are 1-4-1 as the No. 6 seed. Maryland advanced in the tie match on penalty kicks in 1994.

• The last time Maryland was the sixth seed was 2003 and the Terps topped Clemson, 2-1, in the opening round before falling to Florida State, 1-0, in the semifinals.

• In 2001, Maryland lost to Florida State, 7-2 in the first round as the No. 6 seed.

• As the No. 6 seed in 1996, Maryland fell to host Clemson in the first round, 2-1.

• In the 1994 event, the Terps defeated Virginia in the first round on PK's (1-1 in regulation and 4-3 in PK's) before falling to host No. 1 seed North Carolina in the semifinals, 5-0.

Scouting The Terps
• After going a perfect 8-0 in its non-conference schedule and dropping its first two ACC contests, the Terps have gone 4-2-2 in its last eight outings and held the conference's longest unbeaten streak before suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of No. 11 Wake Forest on Thursday, Oct. 29.

• Maryland opened its 2009 season with a two-game road trip to New York for games at Army and Fordham. In the season opener at Army, the Terrapins dominated the Black Knights en route to a 3-0 shutout victory. After a scoreless first half, sophomore Ashley Grove got the Terps on the board with the team's first goal of the year off an assist by senior Megan Watson. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Jasmyne Spencer tallied her first collegiate goal. Senior goalkeeper Mary Casey started the play with a good punt, which was then flicked on by junior Caitlin McDowell. The third goal came was an unassisted blast by freshman Caitlin Mooney.

• After the Army win, Maryland moved to the Bronx to challenge the Fordham Rams. This time the Terps got on the board midway through the first half when freshman Olivia Wagner played the ball through to Spencer, who beat her defender and finished from 20 yards out with a low shot. Fordham tied the game at 1-1 in the 53rd minute, but it took Maryland less than 30 seconds to score the go-ahead goal. Once again it was Spencer scoring the goal, with the assist going to Grove, to give Maryland the 2-1 victory.

• The Terps continued their winning ways in their home opener on Friday, August 28 against Seton Hall. Freshmen Olivia Wagner and Caitlin Mooney scored goals for Maryland, leading the Terrapins to a 2-0 victory over the Pirates. Wagner scored the first goal on a 25-yard blast that was too much for the Seton Hall keeper to handle in the 51st minute. Mooney added the insurance goal on a quick turn-and-shoot effort in the 81st minute.

• The undefeated streak was in jeopardy for a half in the Terps' game against Loyola. The Greyhounds took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but that didn't stand up for long. Sophomore Sade Ayinde, who was inserted into the line-up at the beginning of the second half, scored in the 51st minute to knot the score at 1-1. Less than a minute later freshman Danielle Hubka gave Maryland the lead with a 30-yard shot into the upper right 90. After the Greyhounds tied the match in the next minute, the Terps regained the lead in the 53rd minute on another Ayinde goal. Ayinde was on the giving end of Terps' fourth goal,playing a give-and-go with freshman Caitlin Mooney, who finished from 15 yards into the lower left corner. SophomoreAshley Grove finished off the scoring with a 40-yard rip from the far left side of the field, giving the Terps a 5-2 victory.

• Maryland faced its toughest test so far on Sept. 4 in traditional powerhouse Santa Clara, but a goal by sophomore Ashley Grove propelled the Terps to a 1-0 victory. Senior keeper Mary Casey made five stops to earn her third shutout of the season.

• The Terps were not sharp when they played at American on Sept. 9, but Maryland still found a way to win the game - a 1-0 decision. Jasmyne Spencer scored the lone goal of the game in the 49th minute with the assist going to Caitlin McDowell.

• Maryland won its third-straight 1-0 decision on Sept. 11 when it defeated James Madison, an NCAA Sweet 16 team from 2008. For the fourth time this season the game was 0-0 at the half, but the Terps came out fast in the second half, putting pressure on the Dukes. Maryland had a goal taken off the board when the referee blew an early whistle in the 47th minute. The Terps were awarded a penalty shot on the play, but JMU goalkeeper Diane Wszalek came up with the stop to keep the game scoreless. That's how it would remain until the 60th minute when junior Molly Dreska put in her first career goal. Sophomore Ashley Grove made a hard run down the left side and crossed the ball back to the middle of the field to Dreska. Dreska then tried a fake to buy some space, but the JMU defender played her tightly. That didn't matter, because Dreska created a sliver of space and rifled a shot to the back post, past a diving Wszalek, to give the Terps the 1-0 lead.

• The 1-0 victory-streak came to an end, but the winning streak stayed alive with a 3-1 win over Brown in the Terps' non-conference finale. The victory gave the Terps (8-0-0) their first undefeated record in non-conference play since 1996. That season Maryland was 13-0 in regular season non-conference games. Molly Dreska continued her hot streak, scoring the first two goals for the Terps. Sophomore Jasmyne Spencer, who picked up an assist on Dreska's second goal, scored the insurance goal for Maryland.

• Maryland opened its conference schedule with the difficult five-day road trip to Florida. The Terps showed they can hang with the nation's elite by giving the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles all they could handle. In the end, FSU came away with a 2-1 victory, but Maryland showed its mettle. After falling behind 1-0, sophomore Jasmyne Spencer scored her sixth goal of the season to tie the game. The Seminoles got the go-ahead goal late in the first half to seal the win. After that the Terps went to Miami and gave up two set-piece goals to the Hurricanes and dropped a 2-0 decision in Coral Gables.

• Four different goal scorers gave Maryland its first conference win of the season, a 4-0 drubbing of Duke in Durham, N.C., on Oct. 4. Freshman Danielle Hubka scored the first goal for the Terps for her first career game-winning goal. That score was followed by first-half tallies by junior Molly Dreska and sophomore Jasmyne Spencer and a 90th-minute goal by sophomore Sade Ayinde. Sophomore Lydia Hastings had two assists on the day, while junior Caitlin McDowel, sophomore Domenica Hodak and sophomore Kristen McAfee also had helpers.

• After a scoreless first half the Terps got on the board first when redshirt sophomore Mallory Baker scored her first collegiate goal in the 56th minute. Virginia tied the match at 1-1 a few minutes later, but junior Caitlin MdDowell scored in the 79th minute to give Maryland a 2-1 lead. Virginia tied the match at 2-2 on a 90th-minute goal and that's the way things would end, giving each team a point in the conference standings.

• Maryland finally returned home to host No. 6 Virginia Tech and the Terps put together another statement game in a 3-1 win over the Hokies. Freshman Danielle Hubka scored to give Maryland a 1-0 lead, but a controversial penalty kick was awarded to VT and it tied the match at 1-1. But less than two minutes later sophomore Ashley Grove got on the end of a Jasmyne Spencer cross to put the Terps back on top. Sophomore Becky Kaplan added her first career goal to lock the game away for Maryland.

• On a rainy, cold night the Terps battled No. 7 Boston College to a 1-1 tie. Sophomore Becky Kaplan got Maryland on the board in the 75th minute off assists by sophomore Sade Ayinde and freshman Caitlin Mooney. BC knotted the match in the 83rd minute on a 30-yard shot into the upper right 90 by Kristen Mewis.

• For 81 minutes it looked like "Lady Luck" was going to overlook the 10th-ranked Maryland women's soccer team in its game against NC State Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field. Posts, crossbars and a stingy Wolfpack defense stifled the Terrapin offense for much of the afternoon, but the Terps rallied from a two-goal deficit in the final nine minutes of regulation and won the game, 3-2, six minutes into the first overtime. Sophomore Ashley Grove finished a cross from sophomore Jasmyne Spencer to cut the Wolfpack lead to one in the 81st minute. Then, with two minutes remaining in the game, junior Molly Dreska got on the end of an Olivia Wagner corner kick and headed it into the far upper corner to send the game into overtime. It was another set piece in the sixth minute of the first overtime that gave Maryland the victory. A foul by the Wolfpack gave Maryland a free kick near midfield. Wagner sent the ball into the box, but the ball didn't find a Terrapin player. Instead the ball found NC State defender Gia Cipollini and her header went into the Wolfpack goal, giving the Terps the 3-2 win on an own goal.

• After a scoreless first half, the Terps came out fast and scored three times in the final 45 minutes to top Clemson, 3-0, on the road on Oct. 22. Sophomore Jasmyne Spencer continued her breakout season with two goals, the first on an assist from freshman Danielle Hubka and the second on a rebound put-back off of an Ashely Grove shot that found the post. Grove scored the third goal for Maryland. Senior All-ACC goalkeeper Mary Casey tied her season high with five saves in the team's seventh shutout of the season.

• The Terps' home unbeaten streak of nine matches, dating back to last season, came to an end on Oct. 29 with a 3-1 loss to No. 11 Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but Maryland got back into the game with an Ashley Grove goal in the 75th minute. Despite a valaint effort, the Terps could not complete the comeback and Wake got a late goal from Kaley Fountain to round out the scoring.

• Maryland closed its 2009 regular season with a valiant effort on "Senior Day," but it wasn't enough as the Terps fell to No. 4 North Carolina, 1-0, on a Maria Lubrano header off a corner kick in the eighth minute. Senior goalkeeper Mary Casey set her career high with nine saves on the day.

• Sophomore Jasmyne Spencer continues to lead the team in points and goals with 23 and nine, respectively. She also shares the team lead in assists with junior Caitlin McDowell and fellow sophomores Sade Ayinde and Lydia Hastings, who also have five. Senior All-ACC goalkeeper Mary Casey has played every minute for Maryland so far in net and has a goals-against average of 0.97 with a save percentage of .763.

Scouting The Tar Heels
• North Carolina enters Wednesday's game with a 14-3-1 record overall and a 7-3-0 mark in the ACC.

• The defending NCAA champions opened the 2009 season with seven straight non-conference wins before finishing up its non-conference slate with a 0-0 tie with Auburn in Durham, N.C. The Tar Heels rattled off three straight wins in the conference, but are 5-3 since Oct. 1.

• Junior forward Jessica McDonald is UNC's leading scorer with 18 points on eight goals and two assists. Defensively, senior goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris has started 16 of the Tar Heels' 18 games and has a 0.53 goals-against average and a .805 save percentage.

The Last Time vs. North Carolina
• Last season Maryland dropped a 5-0 decision to the No. 3 Tar Heels.

• The last time UNC ventured into Ludwig Field it escaped with a 2-1 victory in overtime thanks to Casey Nogueira's goal in the 93rd minute.

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 29-0-1.

• The Terps and Tar Heels last met in the ACC Tournament in 2005. No. 3-ranked UNC won the game 3-1 in Cary, N.C.

All-Time in Cary, N.C.
• Maryland is 1-3 all-time in ACC tournament games played at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Maryland defeated Clemson in 2003 for its lone victory. The Terps have lost to Florida State (2003) and North Carolina (2004 & 2005).

Ranked Terps
• The Terps dropped to No. 13 in the latest Soccer America Top 25 after losing their final two regular season games to No. 15 Wake Forest and No. 4 North Carolina. The NSCAA poll will not be released until Tuesday afternoon.

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 97-46-16 (.660) at Ludwig Field.

• Through the seasons, the Terps have had a knack for shutting teams out at Ludwig Field. Maryland has won 66 of its 96 victories (68.8%) at Ludwig Field via shutout. Add in the nine 0-0 ties the Terps have had at Ludwig Field and it totals 75 times that Maryland has shutout its opponent in 159 games (47.2%).

Youth Movement
• So far this season the Terps have scored 36 goals, it highest season output since 2003 (36), but of those 36 goals 30 have come from either freshmen or sophomores. That means that more than 83 percent of Maryland's goals have come from freshmen or sophomores.

• The impact of the underclassmen is also evident when looking at assists. Maryland has 42 assists on the year with 31 of those (73.8 percent) coming from freshmen or sophomores.

• Leading the way for the younger Terps is sophomore Jasmyne Spencer, who after going pointless as a freshman in 2008, is enjoying a breakthrough season this year. She started the year with the game-winning goal in the 3-0 win over Army and hasn't slowed up since. She leads the team with 23 points on nine goals and five assists. Her 23 points are already the most for a Terrapin in a season since 2003 when Kimmy Francis finished with 24. Her nine goals is also the most since 2004 when Mallory Mahar also had nine in her All-America season.

Head Coach Brian Pensky
• Brian Pensky is in his fifth, and finest, season as the head coach of the Maryland women's soccer program. After helping lead the Terrapin men's program to three-straight appearances in the College Cup, Pensky took over the women's soccer program prior to the 2005 season. He has steadily built the program back to prominence and has it on the verge of its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2004. Pensky owns an overall head coaching record of 35-43-13 (.456).

Deeg's Diary
• Every week Colleen Deegan is filing "Deeg's Diary" on umterps.com. Log on each week for her latest insights on Terps women's soccer.

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 2009 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.