The North Carolina women’s soccer program, under the direction of head coach Anson Dorrance, will play one of the most challenging slates in the country in the upcoming season as the Tar Heels officially released their 2012 schedule on Thursday.  Carolina’s 17 regular-season games will include 13 games against opponents who competed in the 2011 NCAA Division ITournament.

Coach Anson Dorrance’s team is coming off a 13-5-2 season in 2011 which included seven overtime games.  The Tar Heels finished third in the 2011 ACC regular season standings and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they were eliminated in penalty kicks by UCF.

The Tar Heels will open their season at traditional NCAA power Portland on August 17.  A week later, UNC will host the annual Carolina Nike Classic which also includes Duke, Florida and the University of Montreal. Carolina’s home opener will be against the Gators on Friday, August 26 at 7 p.m.

Carolina will also participate in the Notre Dame adidas Invitational with the host Fighting Irish, Connecticut and Santa Clara August 31 and September 2 as well as the Duke Nike Classic on September 7 and 9 with the host Blue Devils as well as Marquette and the University of San Diego.

The Tar Heels will begin their 10-match ACC regular-season schedule at the University of Maryland on Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m. Carolina’s home ACC schedule includes games against Virginia Tech, Florida State, Miami, Boston College and Wake Forest.

The Tar Heels return 21 letter winners from the 2011 team while adding a recruitingclass of 14 players.  Carolina returns 10 starters from the 2011 season, the lone exception being forward Courtney Jones who graduated earlier this month.  Returning starters include goalkeeper Adelaide Gay, defenders SataraMurray, Caitlin Ball and Megan Brigman, midfielders Amber Brooks, Ranee Premji, Kelly McFarlane and Meg Morris and forwards Kealia Ohai and Crystal Dunn.  Dorrance will face a juggling act with his roster this fall as five Tar Heels, including three incoming freshmen as well as Dunn and Ohai, will be competing in the U20 Women’s World Cup August 6-September 12 in Japan while another incoming Tar Heel freshman will be competing in the U17 Women’s World Cup September 15-October 13 in Azerbaijan.

The 2012 ACC Tournament will feature the top eight teams in the regular season standingswith quarterfinal games at campus sites on Sunday, October 28.  The semifinals and finals will be at Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on November 2 and 4.  The NCAA Tournament begins with first round games at campus sites onSaturday, November 10.  The second round, third round and quarterfinal games will be at campus sites while the NCAA Women’s College Cup will be at Torero Stadium in the campus of the University of San Diego November 30 and December 2.

Carolina’s 13 games against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams will include contests against Portland (2^nd round), Florida (2^nd round), Notre Dame (1^st round), Marquette (2^nd round), San Diego (3^rd round),Maryland (3^rdround), Virginia (quarterfinalist), Virginia Tech (3^rd round), Florida State (semifinalist), Miami (2^nd round), Boston College (3^rd round), Duke (finalist) and Wake Forest (semifinalist).

http://www.tarheelblue.com/sports/w-soccer/sched/unc-w-soccer-sched.html

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