Another ranked opponent: Tiger women's soccer plays at UNC in televised game

The Clemson women’s soccer team will take on perennial national power North Carolina Thursday night at Fletzer Field in Chapel Hill. The match will begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports South.

The game against the 10th-ranked Tar Heels will be Clemson’s fifth consecutive game against an opponent ranked 11th or better in the nation. Prior to Thursday’s game, the Tigers played four straight home games against ranked opponents – No. 10 Florida State, No. 4 Duke, No. 11 Maryland and No. 5 Boston College.

The Tigers have a 5-7 overall record and a 0-5 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play, most recently falling to the Terrapins 2-1 and the Eagles 4-0 last Thursday and Sunday, respectively.

Junior forward Maddy Elder and freshman forward Liska Dobberstein rank first and second on the Clemson team in scoring so far in 2011. Elder has recorded six goals and five assists for 17 points on the season, while Dobberstein has tallied six goals and four assists for 16 points. Sophomore midfielder Vanessa Laxgang is third on the team in scoring with nine points (four goals and one assist).

Two sophomore keepers have combined to play over 1,110 minutes in goal for the Tigers so far this season. Lauren Arnold has posted 20 saves and Morgan Hert has tallied 17 through 12 games. Hert recorded a career-best nine saves in the Tigers’ last outing, against Boston College on Sunday, October 2.

North Carolina is 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the ACC following wins on the road over #10 Florida State (2-0) and Miami (4-1) last week. The Tar Heels are led in scoring by Courtney Jones, who has three goals and six assists for 12 points on the season. Three goalkeepers, Adelaide Gay, Anna Sieloff and Hannah Daly, have combined for 37 saves and given up just 10 goals in 920 minutes in goal on the year.

The Tar Heels have a 24-1 record all-time against the Tigers. Clemson’s one win in the series was a 2-1 victory at Riggs Field on September 13, 2000. The Tigers went on to win the ACC regular season title and reach the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament that year.

Last year’s contest between the two teams was a 5-1 victory for then-third-ranked North Carolina on October 21, 2010 in Clemson, SC. The last meeting between the two teams at Fetzer Field was a 3-1 win for the then-sixth-ranked Tar Heels on October 29, 2009.

Around the ACC…

• Atlantic Coast Conference teams continue to hold down seven of the top 11 spots in the latest Soccer America poll, led by No. 4 Duke. The Blue Devils also hold the No. 4 spot in this week’s NSCAA rankings, which feature four ACC teams among the top 10 and seven among the top 17.

• Four ACC teams are among the top 10 of the RPI ranking released by the NCAA on Wednesday (Wake Forest at No. 3, Duke at No. 4, Virginia at No. 6 and Boston College at No. 7). Seven ACC teams are ranked among the Top 20 (North Carolina at No. 11, Florida State at No. 13 and Miami at No. 20). NC State checked in at No. 27, Maryland at No. 29 and Virginia Tech at No. 36.

• ACC Player of the Week Courtney Jones of North Carolina has also been named the National Player of the Week by Soccer America. Jones led the ninth-ranked Tar Heels to two conference road victories at No. 10 Florida State and Miami.

• Duke (12-1-1) and Wake Forest (11-1-1) continue to post their best starts in school history.

• Boston College senior goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni needs just three more shutouts to equal the NCAA record of 44 held by former Rutgers keeper Erin Guthrie.

• Maryland sixth-year head coach Brian Pensky posted his 63rd career victory on Sept. 29 at Clemson, moving him into the top spot on the program’s all-time wins list.

• Duke junior goalkeeper Tara Campbell enters Thursday night’s game against Boston College with nine shutouts so far this season. That matches the school record for shutouts in a single year.

• North Carolina midfielder Amber Brooks was named the National Player of the Week by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Brooks was joined on the site’s National Team of the Week by Wake Forest goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe. Brooks and Duke keeper Tara Campbell were named Primetime Performers by CollegeSoccer360.com. Bledsoe and Campbell each logged 200 minutes last week without allowing a goal.