North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack and Tar Heels Meet on Thursday
9/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 29, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -
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NC State women's soccer will host No. 2 North Carolina at Cary's SAS Soccer Park, Thursday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. The Wolfpack recently concluded an undefeated non-conference slate and will enter the contest with an overall record of 7-1-2, while standing at 1-1-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference action. The Tar Heels are 9-0-1 on the year and sit with an ACC record of 2-0-0.
"UNC has an entire arsenal of players who can score for them," stated NC State head coach Laura Kerrigan. "They probably have the most highly skilled team in the country, so we will have to be at our best to take them on. Our players are looking forward to the challenge that UNC always presents."
NC State enters its third ACC match of the season with a 1-1 record and will look to pick up its second victory over the successful UNC program. Leading the way for the Pack will be senior forwards Erin Griswold and Anna Helenius. Griswold picked up her seventh goal of the season in the 1-0 victory over High Point Tuesday night. She leads the squad currently, while Helenius is right behind her with six goals. The Turku, Finland native does lead the team with five assists. Both Griswold and Helenius have 17 points on the year. In between the posts for the Wolfpack is Megan Connors. The sophomore has started nine matches, allowed five goals and made 16 saves. She has also tallied three shutouts. The Pack went undefeated in non-conference action and collected a record of 6-0-2 in that time. Additionally, NC State has lost just one game at home this season, a 2-0 shutout courtesy of No. 19 Clemson last week and owns a 5-1-1 overall record while playing at home. The Wolfpack's ACC victory came in the conference opener at Miami, Sept. 17, 1-0. NC State has tallied six shutouts this season and outscored its opponent's 25-to-6. The Pack has scored nine of its total goals from corner kicks. Also, NC State has not given up more than two goals in each of its 10 matches this season.
The Heels will be without the services of junior forward Lindsay Tarpley who suffered a broken leg in the 6-1 win at Virginia Tech Sept. 26. Tarpley had two goals and three assists prior to her injury. UNC opened the season with a 1-0 shutout of No. 25 Nebraska and then went on a four-game winning streak before taking away a 0-0 tie against No. 15 Tennessee, Sept. 10. Since then the Tar Heels have won the last six contests, outscoring opponents 20-to-3. The team's two ACC wins have come against Maryland in the conference opener, 2-1 and against Virginia Tech. UNC has outscored its opponents 29-to-5 in the 10 matches and averaged nearly three goals per contest. Freshman forward Jaime Gilbert currently leads the Heels with 15 points off five goals and five assists. Junior midfielder Kacey White leads the squad with six assists. Junior goalkeeper Aly Winget has started nine of the 10 matches, allowed just four goals and made 21 saves. She has five shutouts.
NC State and North Carolina have a long-standing history of playing in heated matches. In fact, NC State picked up its first regulation win over UNC in history after a 2-1 decision in 2002 at SAS. The Wolfpack is the only other ACC program to win a women's soccer conference championship, besides UNC. The Pack won both the conference and tournament titles in 1988. UNC owns a 32-1-2 record over the Wolfpack.
