2018 Tar Heel Men’s Soccer 2001 & 2011 ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT: TJ SCHOLL • [email protected] • (984) 484-0936 National Champions Carolina Men’s Soccer CAROLINA GAME DAY NCAA Championships (2) Aug 26. #3 North Carolina (1-0-0, 0-0-0) #3 North Carolina 2001 • 2011 vs. #2 Indiana (0-1-0, 0-0-0) Tar Heels NCAA College Cup Appearances (8) Cary, NC., 7:30 p.m. EST 1987 • 2001 • 2008 • 2009 1-0-0, 0-0-0 • 2010 • 2011 • 2016 • 2017 Coverage ACC Network Extra NCAA Appearances (25) Series Tied, 4-4 1968 • 1987 • 1988 • 1990 • 1991 • 1993 2018 Schedule & Results Head Coach: Carlos Somoano 1994 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 Date Opponent Time/Result Record at UNC: 108-26-21 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2105 • 2016 • Aug. 12 Coastal Carolina (Exh) W, 4-0 Record Overall: Same 2017 Aug. 17 Stetson (Exh) W, 4-1 @UNCmenssoccer ACC Regular Season Championships (9) Aug. 19 Presbyterian (Exh) W, 2-1 1966 • 2000 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 Aug. 24 ETSU W, 1-0 2012 • 2015 (Coastal) • 2016 (Coastal) • Aug. 26 Indiana 7:30 p.m. 2017 (Coastal) ACC Championship Titles (3) Aug. 31 at William & Mary 7 p.m. 1987 • 2000 • 2011 Sept. 3 Jacksonville 7 p.m. CAROLINA KICKS OFF AGAINST ETSU • No. 3 North Carolina will kick off the 2018 sea- Statistical Matchup Sept. 8 Pitt* 7 p.m. son again ETSU where the Tar Heels are 3-1 all Carolina Indiana Sept. 11 at Davidson 7 p.m. time. Sept. 14 at Duke* 5 p.m. • The last time these two teams faced off the Tar 1 Matches 1 1/1 Goals Scored/Avg. 1/1 Sept. 18 at UNCG 7 p.m. Heels lost 1-0 in OT in Chapel Hill. 0/0 Goals Against/Avg. 2/2 Sept. 21 at Notre Dame* 7 p.m. • The Tar Heels are 9-1 in their last 10 season openers, with the only loss coming to Akron in .100 Shot Percentage .500 Sept. 28 Clemson 7 p.m. 2010. 10.0 Shots Per Game 12.0 Oct. 2 UNCW 7 p.m. 1 Assists 1 Oct. 6 Virginia Tech* 7 p.m. CAROLINA FACES INDIANA IN TOP 3 MATCHUP 8 Corner Kicks 4 Oct. 9 at Old Dominion 7 p.m. • The Tar Heels are 4-4 all-time against Indiana. 0 Yellow Cards 1 Oct. 12 at NC State* 7 p.m. • The last time UNC and Indiana faced each other 0 Red Cards 0 was in 2017, when the Hoosiers beat Carolina 6 Fouls 14 Oct. 16 Winthrop 7 p.m. 1-0 to advance to the NCAA National Champi- Oct. 19 at Boston College* 7 p.m. onship. 46 WEEKS AND COUNTING Oct. 26 Virginia* 7 p.m. • This will be the 3rd regular season meetings be- • Since the start of the 2015 season, the Tar *ACC match tween the two programs. The other six have come Heels have been ranked in the top 10 in the in the postseason where they are 3-3. NSCAA/United Soccer Coaches poll for 46 Carolina In The Polls DECADE OF DOMINANCE consecutive weeks. Date SA USC CSN TDS RPI • Over the last 10 seasons (2008-2017), UNC MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST Pre 2 3 3 4 NA leads all other programs in the following: - NCAA Championship wins: 23 • Alex Comsia was named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List after helping lead (SA - Soccer America; USC - Coaches; CSN - College - Sweet 16 Appearances: 9 Soccer News; TDS - Top Drawer Soccer) - Elite 8 Appearances: 8 the Tar Heels to back-to-back College Cups. - Men’s College Cup Appearances: 6 • Comsia led the team in minutes played (1977) North Carolina’s Probable Starting Lineup NUMBER TO KNOW Position No. Name Notes Since the start of the GK 1 James Pyle Finished with a 6-2 record in 2017, 31-6-6 all-time 2015 season, the Tar D 4 Alex Comsia 2018 Mac Hermann Trophy Watch List Heels have been ranked D 5 John Nelson All-ACC Freshman Team in 2017 D 27 Mark Salas Started 16 of 20 games appeared in during 2017 in the top 10 in the 46 NSCAA/United Soccer M 2 Mauricio Pineda Third Team All-ACC in 2017, started all 22 games Coaches poll for 46 consecutive weeks. M 28 Raul Aguilera Appeared in 12 games during freshman season M 8 Jack Skahan Started 17 of 22 games in 2017, 2G and 3A M 29 Jeremy Kelly Started all 22 games last season, 2G and 3A F 10 Gio Montesdeoca Appeared in 12 matches, four goals on assist F 14 Nils Bruening Missed the 2017 season due to injury F 26 Jelani Pieters Second on team in points in ‘17 with 22, 9G 8A 2018 Game Notes last year while starting all 22 games for UNC. season in Nils Bruening and Drew Murphy North Carolina Quick Facts • Nils missed all of last season due to injury but 2018 Record: ................................................. 1-0-0, 0-0-0 PIETERS HEADER LIFTS TAR HEELS OVER ETSU in 2016 he finished second on the team in points Program All-Time Record: ..........................742-324-106 • Jelani Pieters 79th minute goal lifted the Tar (17) and led the team in goals with 8. Current Streak: ..................................................One Win Heels over ETSU in the season opener on Friday, • Murphy has dealt with injuries over the last two Head Coach: ......................................... Carlos Somoano August 24. season in Chapel Hill, but when heatlhy has pro- • The goal was Pieters 5th game-winning goal of vided key moments for the Tar Heels. In 2016 his Record at UNC: .........................108-26-21 (Eighth Year) his career after tying for the team lead with 4 last game-winning goal against Providence sent the Career Record: .......................................................Same season. Tar Heels to the NCAA College Cup. Assistant Coach: ..........................................Will Clayton Assistant Coach: ......................................... Grant Porter WINNING WAYS IN SEASON OPENERES PERFECT PRESEASON Volunteer Assistant Coach: .......................Joe Scachetti • The Tar Heels are now 10-1 in their last 11 sea- • Carolina went 3-0 in preseason exhibition son openers, with the only loss coming to Akron games defeating Coastal Carolina 4-0, Stetson 2018 Leaders (eventual national champions) in 2010. 4-1 and Presbyterian 2-1. Goals: .................................................... Jelani Pieters - 1 • Since the start of the start of the spring season, Assists: ................................................Maurico Pineda- 1 U.S. SOCCER COLLEGE PROGRAM CHAMPIONS Carolina is now 8-0 and has outscored its oppo- Points: ................................................... Jelani Pieters - 1 • North Carolina claimed the inaugural U.S. Soc- nents 23-4. cer Spring College Program championship with Shots: .....................................................Nils Bruening - 4 after going undefeated in five games. 2018 ACC TITLE FAVORITE Saves: ....................................................... James Pyle - 2 • Carolina went 5-0 on the spring season and out- • For the second consecutive year, the Tar Heels scored its opponents 13-2. are favored to claim the 2018 ACC title, claiming 2018 Carolina Honor Roll North Carolina Spring Results: 10 of the possible 12 votes from the leagues head coaches. Mac Hermann Trophy Preseaon Watch List UNC 4, Clemson 1 • Carolina is also favored to claim its fourth con- Alex Comsia UNC 4, Georgetown 0 secutive Coastal Division title. Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI UNC 2, Virginia 1 John Nelson......................................................Third Team UNC 2, Wake Forest 0 TOP 5.....AGAIN UNC 1, Duke 0 • Carolina has been tabbed one of the top 5 College Soccer News Preseason All-America teams in the country in the preseason polls 9 of Alex Comsia.......................................................First Team SECOND HALF TEAM the last 10 seasons. The only year they weren’t, Mauricio Pineda................................................Third Team • In 2017, Carolina outscored its opponents 31-9 TopDrawerSoccer voted them preseason No. 6 in in the second half, including 6-2 in the postsea- 2014. Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Top 100 son. • So far this season, the Tar Heels are No. 2 in John Nelson.............................................................No. 28 Mauricio Pineda.......................................................No. 39 Soccer American, No. 3 in United Soccer Coach- Alex Comsia.............................................................No. 43 VETERAN CORE es and College Soccer News and No. 4 in Top- Matt Constant..........................................................No. 97 • The Tar Heels return 8 players from last years DrawerSoccer. NCAA College Cup team that played at least 1,000 minutes, including Alex Comsia, Mauricio TAR HEELS ADD 9 TO 2018 SQUAD Pineda and John Nelson who all finished top 3 in • Carolina added six high school students and minutes played last year. three transfers to the 2018 roster. The transfers are from the University of New Mexico, Young- HEALTHY AND READY TO GO Harris College and Bethel College. • Carolina gets two big pieces back for the 2018 • Matt Constant (New Mexico), Sam Jones Carolina’s record when.... .......................................................... 2018 .............. 2017 .............Last 8 .................... Last 11 Overall.............................................1-0-0 .............17-4-1 ........ 108-26-21 ...........155-40-30 Home ...............................................1-0-0 .............12-2-0 .......... 72-13-9 .............102-17-13 Away ................................................0-0-0 ..............4-1-1 ........... 30-11-9 ...............43-17-11 Neutral ............................................0-0-0 ..............1-1-0 ............. 4-2-3 ....................... 8-6-6 Scores first ......................................1-0-0 .............15-0-0 ........... 92-5-4 ..................131-8-6 Opponent scores first ....................0-0-0 ..............2-4-0 ........... 15-22-6 ...............23-32-10 Shutout ............................................0-0-0 ..............0-2-1 ........... 0-17-11 .................0-24-14 Scores 1 goal ...................................1-0-0 ..............1-2-0 ............ 29-7-6 ................44-12-11 Scores 2 goals .................................0-0-0 ..............8-0-0 ............ 35-0-3 .................... 52-2-4 Scores 3 goals .................................0-0-0 ..............2-0-0 ............ 19-1-1 .................... 25-1-1 Scores 4+ goals ...............................0-0-0 ..............6-0-0 ...........