Huskers Set to Face Duke and North Carolina

The <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska soccer team will be tested this weekend as it faces one of the toughest challenges on its 2003 schedule in the North Carolina Invitational.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The Huskers travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., where they take on No. 10 Duke on Friday afternoon and No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday.

 

NU opened the 2002 season against the Tar Heels at home in a game that ended in a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes.  The Huskers are 3-0 all-time against the Blue Devils, but have not faced them since the 1997 season.

 

Nebraska got its season off to a strong start, going 2-0 against DePaul and Iowa in the season-opening weekend at home. The Huskers were down in numbers with only 17 athletes seeing action on the field.  NU was resilient holding on to a 1-0 victory over the Blue Demons and dominating the Hawkeyes, 3-0.

 

The Huskers will have to step up their game to extend their current two-game winning streak.

 

Duke is coming off an early season upset of Texas. North Carolina easily dispatched its weekend opponents, Washington State and Washington.

 

The Huskers depended on youth over the weekend with all four goals coming from underclassmen.  This weekend will be no different with at least four freshmen expected to see significant action.

 

The game against North Carolina will be broadcast by Dan Satter on the Tar Heel Sports Network and can be found at TarHeelBlue.com.

 

The Last Time We Met

The Huskers are 3-0 against Duke and lead the series with an 11-1 all-time score between the two teams.  Nebraska has not faced the Blue Devils since the 1997 season.

 

Nebraska faced Duke twice during the 1996 season.  In the first meeting on Sept. 8, the Huskers upset DU, 3-1.  The Blue Devils came into the match ranked sixth in the nation, while Nebraska was the No. 25-ranked team.  The two teams met again in November in the NCAA Tournament, when the roles were reversed with Nebraska ranked fifth and Duke unranked in the polls. The Huskers dominated that contest, 3-0, to send them to their first NCAA Sweet 16 against the Portland Pilots.

 

In 1997, No. 10 Nebraska again faced No. 4 Duke as the underdogs, but came out on top 5-0.

 

In the storied histories of the  two programs, Nebraska has only played North Carolina once during the fall season.

 

Last season the Huskers opened against the Tar Heels and NU started setting records.  The Huskers set a new attendance record with 4,830 fans at the Abbott Sports Complex to watch them battle North Carolina  to a 1-1 tie.

 

Christy Harms notched the Huskers' only goal 1:55 into the game. Allysa Ramsey scored for the Tar Heels at the 72:28 mark, on a free kick, which eventually led to two overtimes and a tie game after 110 minutes of play.

 

Scouting Duke

The Duke Blue Devils opened the 2003 season unranked and unnoticed in the NSCAA/adidas poll.  It only took one weekend to change all of that, as Duke upset No. 9 Texas and soared to No. 10 in this week's poll.

 

Duke has put together two top 10 recruiting classes over the past two years under the direction of third-year head coach Robbie Church.  The Blue Devils are relatively experienced, bringing back 12 of 19 letterwinners from their 9-9-2 season in 2002.

 

Duke is undefeated through two exhibition games and two home contests.  The Blue Devils defeated Campbell, 6-0, on Friday. Led by sophomore Carolyn Riggs, who scored back-to-back goals against Campbell and came back against Texas to contribute a goal and an assist in the win.

 

Junior Casey McCluskey is also one of the Blue Devils' best threats in the midfield.  McCluskey was the 2001 ACC Rookie of the Year and led the team with 10 goals and 22 points in 2002.

 

Kelly Harris and Kate Seibert lead the Duke defense.  Seibert was named to the All-ACC freshman team in 2002.

 

Scouting North Carolina

There is no debating North Carolina's rich tradition. The Tar Heels have a 534-25-15 all-time record under coach Anson Dorrance.  In 25 years of existence they have posted an unbelievable .943 winning percentage.

 

In its first 24 years, Carolina has won 17 national championships and played in all 22 Final Fours sanctioned by the AIAW and the NCAA.

 

The Tar Heels posted a 21-2-4 record last season and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship for the 16th consecutive season.

 

2003 should be no different for the Tar Heels.  North Carolina is once again the top-ranked team in the country and opened their season on a 2-0 run. 

 

Carolina rolled in their first game of 2003, with a 4-0 win over Washington State on the University of Washington campus.  Lindsay Tarpley scored three of the four Tar Heel goals.  UNC escaped the second match of the weekend with a 2-1 win over Washington in an overtime game.

 

Sophomore midfielder Lori Chalupny scored a pair of goals to lead the Tar Heels to their second win in as many games.

 

This weekend marks UNC's home opening series with the North Carolina Invitational.  Heading into the 2003 season, North Carolina has not lost at home in its last 38 matches. They are 38-0-2 at home since losing to Penn State in 1999 and is 225-7-4 all-time in home matches.

 

The Last Time Out

The Huskers came out of the opening weekend unblemished with a 2-0 record and wins against DePaul (1-0) and Iowa (3-0).

 

The underclassmen played a huge role in both contests.  Freshman Jessie Bruch made the biggest impact, scoring the game-winning goal against DePaul and adding her second career goal against Iowa.

 

Nebraska controlled the possession in the first half with 12 shots, including five on goal, in the first 45 minutes. In the second half, the Blue Demons carried momentum, taking 14 shots to NU's five.

 

Brooke Bredenberg and the Husker defense held DePaul off and recorded the first shutout of the season.

 

The Huskers were much improved against Iowa, scoring three goals and holding the Hawkeyes scoreless.

 

Sophomore Kari Hogan scored her first goal of the season, despite playing with a broken nose, just 4:15 into the contest on an a shot that was set up off a corner kick by Jenna Cooper.

 

NU didn't let up as freshman Ashley Tenn put the Huskers up 2-0 just a minute and 32 seconds later. Ashley Carter and Iman Haynes received assists on the play.

 

In the 73rd minute Bruch put the game out of reach for Iowa, scoring on a header off of another corner kick by Cooper.

 

The Huskers posted 29 shots, including 15 on goal for the contest, and Bredenberg was once again perfect with six saves on the evening for her second official shutout.

 

Up Next

The Huskers hope to pick up momentum this weekend and carry it into the Wisconsin Invitational, Sept. 12-14, where they face Michigan and Wisconsin.

 

Nebraska is 1-1-0 against Michigan and won 5-1 in their last meeting in 1997.  The Huskers are 2-0-0 against Wisconsin, and last defeated the Badgers, 1-0, last season in Lincoln at the adidas Invite.

 

The Best of the Best

Two of the best coaches in the country will face off this week when Nebraska's John Walker and North Carolina's Anson Dorrance take the field with their teams.

 

Walker and Dorrance led all Division I active coaches in winning percentage coming into the 2003 season.  Dorrance owns a .942 winning percentage over 25 years with a 534-25-15 record, while Walker has an .810 winning percentage and an all-time record of 161-35-7 over 10 seasons.

 

Dorrance leads all coaches in victories with 534 and Walker is 26th with 161 in just 10years.

 

Bruch Calm and Collected in First Two Collegiate Starts

Coaches couldn't ask for much more out of freshman Jessie Bruch in her collegiate debut last weekend.

 

Bruch looked unphased by the speed and physical play at the college level, shooting the ball 10 times in two contests and contributing a goal in each.

 

The St. Louis, Mo., native scored the game-winning goal against DePaul just 8:33 into the contest. Bruch took a pass from Vern Fitzgerald and launched a shot from about 18 yards out for her first collegiate goal.

 

Against Iowa, Bruch looked strong, but wasn't able to put a shot in the net until the 73rd minute, when Jenna Cooper sent a corner kick across the box, and Bruch found it with her head to put it past the keeper.

 

Of Bruch's 10 shots, four have been on goal and two have been good for goals, for a .200 shot percentage.

 

The freshman has already made her way onto the Big 12 charts, ranking fourth in goals (2), third in shots (10) and tied at ninth for points (4).

 

Cooper Racking Up Assists

Jenna Cooper made a hobby out of contributing assists in 2002 and has continued the trend early in 2003.

 

Cooper was credited with 10 assists last season and has added two more after two games in 2003.  The junior placed perfect passes for her Husker teammates in two of the three goals against Iowa Sunday.

 

Cooper set up both shots off of corner kicks that were found and nailed by Kari Hogan and Jessie Bruch.

 

The Louisville, Ky., native finished the season tied for fourth in the conference with 10 assists and is already at the top of that list in 2003.  Cooper is tied with five other Big 12 athletes who have notched two assists on the season.

 

Bredenberg Perfect in Goal

Junior Brooke Bredenberg has not allowed a goal in her debut season in the net.  Bredenberg made the switch from midfielder to goalkeeper in the spring of 2003 and in that time has still not surrendered a goal to a collegiate team.

 

The Dayton, Minn., native faced 11 shots on the weekend and turned them all back to retain a 0.00 goals-against average.

 

This marks the first time in three seasons the Huskers have not allowed a goal in the first two games of the season.

 

Bredenberg is among four Big 12 keepers who are still perfect on the season.

 

The Numbers

Nebraska is one of only four teams (and the only Big 12 team) to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in each of the past seven seasons.

 

Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, the Huskers have claimed five of the seven conference tournament championships, winning in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002.  Nebraska also won regular-season titles in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

 

In seven seasons of Big 12 action, the Huskers have produced an overall conference record of 59-8-2, for a league-best winning percentage of .870.

 

Through the past six seasons, the Huskers have a combined record of 25-2-2 against the ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences.  Nebraska is 4-0-2 vs. the ACC, 8-0 vs. the Big Ten, 7-1 vs. the SEC, and 6-1 against the Pac-10.

 

The Polls

Nebraska dropped two spots to No. 14 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas national rankings released Sept. 1.  The Huskers opened the 2003 season with a No. 12 ranking.

 

The Huskers finished the 2002 season ranked 13th with a 16-6-3 record and their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Sweet 16.

 

The Huskers face four opponents ranked in the preseason top 25 this season, including North Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas and Michigan.

 

NU finished in the final NSCAA Top 15 for the last seven seasons.

 

Head Coach John Walker

After nine seasons at the helm of the Nebraska program, John Walker has accumulated staggering numbers, including a 161-35-7 record and an .810 winning percentage that ranks second among all Division I active coaches.

 

Walker led the Huskers to the NCAA postseason in 1996 and has finished in the top 15 nationally for the last seven seasons.

 

He has taken NU to the NCAA Sweet 16 the last seven consecutive seasons, including two trips to the Elite Eight.

 

The Kingston, Ontario, native posted his best season in scarlet and cream in 1999, when the Huskers finished with a 22-1-2 final record. Under Walker, NU has won three Big 12 regular-season titles and five of the seven Big 12 Tournament championships.

 

Around the Big 12 Conference

Eight Big 12 teams remain perfect after the first weekend of regular-season action.

 

Texas was upset by Duke, 3-2, Colorado dropped a game to Portland, 1-0, and Texas Tech was defeated by Oral Roberts, 3-0.

 

Big matchups to keep an eye on in the coming weekend include Colorado at Denver, Kansas at Wisconsin, Missouri vs. Purdue and Arizona, Oklahoma vs. Notre Dame, and Texas A&M vs. South Carolina.

 

Nebraska leads all teams in shots (47) after two games, Texas A&M leads the league in goals (9) and assists (8).