Syracuse University
North Carolina
#7 Orange Hosts #2 UNC in Top 10 Clash
8/30/2012 1:10:00 PM | Field Hockey
| No. 7 Syracuse (2-0) vs. No. 2 North Carolina (2-0) | ||
| Game Details |
Saturday, Sept. 1 | Syracuse, N.Y. | 1 p.m. J.S. Coyne Stadium | Directions |
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| Game Coverage |
Live Stats Twitter: @Cuse | #cusefh |
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| Syracuse Links | Game Notes | Roster | Schedule | |
| North Carolina Links | Roster | Schedule | |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - No. 7 Syracuse field hockey (2-0) hosts No. 2 North Carolina (2-0) in a key early-season top 10 match-up on Saturday at 1 p.m. at J.S. Coyne Stadium.
• The Orange puts its 29-game home winning streak on the line. The streak dates back to 2009.
• The Orange, coming off a 19-4 season in 2011 that saw it ranked No. 3 in the country in the final NFHCA poll, opened the season with a pair of convincing wins: at Monmouth (8-1) and at home vs. Ohio (6-0).
• As always, admission is free to all games at J.S. Coyne Stadium.
GAME COVERAGE
• Free live stats of Saturday's game will be available at SUathletics.com.
• Fans can also follow the game on Twitter.com/cuse, the official Twitter home of Syracuse Athletics, or search #cusefh.
ORANGE-HOT AT HOME
• The Orange has been dominating at J.S. Coyne Stadium since sixth-year head coach Ange Bradley took the reins in 2007 as it currently rides a 29-game home winning streak dating back to 2009.
• Syracuse is 44-5 (.898) overall, including 30-3 (.909) in non-conference games and 14-2 (.889) in BIG EAST games.
• In 2011, Syracuse went 13-0 at home and outscored the opposition, 65-9.
• SU's last home loss was on Sept. 6, 2009 vs. No. 7 Princeton, 3-2, in overtime.
SERIES vs. NORTH CAROLINA
• Syracuse is 0-3 all-time against the Tar Heels. Last season's 3-2 loss in Chapel Hill was the first meeting since 1996 between the programs.
• On Sept. 2, 2011, the fifth-ranked Orange surrendered a 2-0 halftime lead and fell to the Tar Heels, 3-2. Heather Susek and Liz McInerney scored for SU and Leann Stiver made a career-high 14 saves in net. Kelsey Kolojejchick scored twice for UNC, while Abby Frey also scored.
• The previous meeting was a 6-0 UNC win on Oct. 6, 1996 in a game played in Amherst, Mass.
• The teams first played on Sept. 14, 1991 at Penn State, a 3-0 UNC win.
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
• The Tar Heels, back-to-back national runners-up, enter the game 2-0 on the season and ranked No. 2 in the preseason NFHCA poll, garnering 15 first-place votes.
• North Carolina opened the season last weekend with a pair of wins in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, beating No. 10 Michigan (5-1) and No. 12 Iowa (5-0). Both games were played in Winston-Salem, N.C.
• Senior forward Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany had the hot hand for the Tar Heels in the first two games, scoring four goals and adding an assist. She was second on the team last season with 16 goals and 35 points.
• Senior midfielder Kelsey Kolojejchick is a two-time first-team All-American for UNC. She led the club with 23 goals, including seven game-winners, and 55 points last season. She has one goal and four assists over the first two games.
• Junior midfielder/back Marta Malmberg was a third-team All-American in 2011 with six goals and nine assists. She is from Marathon, N.Y., about 45 minutes south of Syracuse on I-81.
• Junior Caitlin Powers and sophomore Ammer Sassi each started one game in goal. Each only had to make one save.
• Assistant coach Guy Cathro was an assistant at Syracuse for four years (2007-2010), helping the Orange reach the 2008 Final Four.
• Head coach Karen Shelton is in her 32nd year leading the Tar Heels and ranks fifth in the career wins in the NCAA with 529.
MILLMAN WINS WEEKLY AWARD
• Senior captain Kelsey Millman was recognized for her outstanding nine-point opening weekend by being named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Junior back Laura Hahnefeldt was also honored as she was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll.
• It is the third career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week award for Millman. She took home the honor twice as a junior in 2011, Oct. 3 and Oct. 17, on her way to being named NFHCA All-American and first-team All-BIG EAST. For Hahnefeldt, it is the third time in her career she has won a conference weekly award, and first since her freshman season in 2010 when she was named Defensive Player of the Week once and to the honor roll once.
TOP 10 STREAK REACHES 43 WEEKS
• Syracuse was ranked No. 7 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll released on Aug. 21. It marked the 43rd straight week that the Orange has been ranked in the top 10 in the country, dating back to Aug. 28, 2008.
• Syracuse debuted at No. 5 in the poll in 2011 and spent nine of 11 weeks in that fifth position before finishing the season ranked No. 3 in the final poll.
HOT STARTS
• With the win at Monmouth (8-1) on Aug. 24, Syracuse is now 26-15 all-time in season openers, including a perfect 6-0 under Ange Bradley. The Orange is 13-4 in season openers since 1996.
• Last year, the Orange opened at home vs. Monmouth, winning 4-0. In 2010, SU defeated Northwestern, 6-1, at Coyne.
• Syracuse has now started the season 2-0 in five out of six seasons under Bradley. The lone 1-1 year was last season, when SU dropped its second game at North Carolina, 3-2.
SHUTOUT IN HOME OPENER
• Freshman Gillian Pinder scored the first two goals of her collegiate career to lead No. 7 Syracuse to a 6-0 shutout victory vs. Ohio (1-1) in the home-opener at J.S. Coyne Stadium on Sunday afternoon, running the Orange's home winning streak to 29 games.
• Senior captain Kelsey Millman finished off her nine-point weekend by recording a goal and an assist. She had a pair of each in the Orange's 8-1 season-opening win at Monmouth on Friday.
• Leonie Geyer, Jordan Page and Anna Crumb added goals for SU, while senior goalkeeper Leann Stiver made three saves to secure her 45th career victory and 13th by way of shutout.
• "It was good playing at Coyne again," head coach Ange Bradley said. "Our forwards did a nice job of closing lines. The backfield with Anna (Crumb), Alyssa (Manley), Laura (Hahnefeldt) and Iona (Holloway), they all really stepped up and our midfield did a much better job today."
• Syracuse controlled play throughout most of the game, holding a 27-4 advantage in shots and a 9-3 edge in penalty corners.
ORANGE ROLLS IN SEASON OPENER
• Lauren Brooks, Stephanie Hussey and Kelsey Millman scored two goals each as No. 7 Syracuse field hockey opened its season with a dominating performance, defeating Monmouth, 8-1, on Aug. 24 at "So Sweet a Cat" Field. Liz McInerney and Emma Russell also scored goals for the Orange, which opened the season with a victory for the sixth-straight year under head coach Ange Bradley.
• "I thought we played well today," Bradley said. "We had a lot of great combination play and used some good rotations. It was a good opening experience."
• Senior captain Millman tallied six points on the day, as she added two assists to go along with her 24th and 25th career goals.
• It was a career day for Hussey. The sophomore forward nearly matched her point output from a season ago (six) with five on two goals and one assist.
• Syracuse outshot the Hawks, 26-8, for the game while holding a 8-2 advantage in penalty corners.
FACING THE NATION'S BEST
• SU will face a challenging schedule in 2012. Eight of the Orange's regular season opponents are ranked in the top 25 of the preseason NFHCA poll: No. 2 North Carolina (H-9/1), No. 4 Princeton (A-9/23), No. 6 Connecticut (H-10/27), No. 11 Stanford (N-10/12), No. 14 Boston University (A-9/9), No. 17 Boston College (H-10/21), No. 18 New Hampshire (A-9/7) and No. 23 Louisville (H-9/29).
• As always, Syracuse's non-conference schedule is one of the nation's best. Six of SU's 11 non-conference games are against top 25 teams in the NFHCA preseason poll.
• The Orange will face six of the 15 other teams that played in last season's NCAA Tournament.
PRESEASON HONORS
• Laura Hahnefeldt was named Preseason BIG EAST Co-Defensive Player of the Year, headlining four Orange to be honored as the conference announced its field hockey preseason awards and poll on Aug. 14.
• Joining Hahnefeldt on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team are teammates Lauren Brooks, Leonie Geyer and Iona Holloway. Geyer was one of five unanimous selections on the 12-member team.
• Syracuse, the two-time defending BIG EAST Tournament Champion, was picked to finish second in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving two first-place votes and 32 total points.
FOREIGN FLAIR
• Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley recruits the best talent not only in New York and the United States, but from around the world. This season, the Orange has eight players born outside the U.S.
• The Orange has three players from Ireland. All-American Liz McInerney (Dublin) is joined this season by freshmen Gillian Pinder (Dublin) and Emma Russell (Enniskerry).
• Germany is the next most common country with two Orange players. Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Leonie Geyer (Neuss) and Laura Hahnefeldt (Hamburg) are both juniors.
• From the United Kingdom, Syracuse boasts decorated seniors Iona Holloway (Glasgow, Scotland) and Amy Kee (Hertford, England). Holloway is a Preseason All-BIG EAST pick, while Kee is a three-time All-Region selection.
• Sophomore Stephanie Hussey was born in Argentina and lived her first 13 years there before moving with her family to Miami, Fla. She holds dual citizenship.
• Orange assistant coach Natalie Barrett is also a native of Glasgow, Scotland.
• 2011 SU alum Martina Loncarica (Argentina) is the program's all-time leader in points (139) and assists (65).
SEVEN NEWCOMERS JOIN THE RANKS
• Three-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year Ange Bradley welcomes an seven-player freshmen class for the 2012 season.
• The talented group is comprised of Sarah Clark (Newton, N.J.), Erin Dickey (Harrisburg, Pa.), Jessica Jecko (Clinton, N.Y.), Alyssa Manley (Lititz, Pa.), Mailyn Nishiguchi (Chula Vista, Calif.), Gillian Pinder (Dublin, Ireland), and Emma Russell (Enniskerry, Ireland).
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
• Syracuse catapulted near the top of the national statistics rankings throughout the 2011 season. Leann Stiver was ranked in the top-five in goals against average and is first in save percentage among active Division I student-athletes. Kelsey Millman is ranked 29th in assists per game (0.57) and 17th in points per game (2.22).
• The Orange were fourth in the country with 0.39 shutouts per game (nine last season). SU was also ranked in the top 10 in goals against average (sixth), goals-per-game (sixth), points-per-game (seventh) and scoring average (eighth), and top-five in winning percentage (fifth), scoring margin (fifth), and assists-per-game (fifth).
