No. 2 Indiana Faces No. 3 North Carolina on Sunday

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 2-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team will head to Cary, N.C. on Sunday to face the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels at WakeMed Park.

Kickoff for the top-3 matchup is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra through WatchESPN. Live stats for the match can be found at IUHoosiers.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The No. 2-ranked Indiana Hoosiers head to Cary, N.C. to face the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday at WakeMed Park.
• Sunday will be a rematch from last year's College Cup semifinal that saw the Hoosiers defeat the Tar Heels, 1-0, on a goal from Andrew Gutman.
• Indiana fell in the team's season opener on Friday, 2-1, in double overtime at No 5 Wake Forest on a goal in the 107th minute. MF Griffin Dorsey had the goal for the Hoosiers.
• IU returns nine starters from 2017's team that posted a record of 18-1-6, reaching the NCAA College Cup Final. Indiana fell in double-overtime to Stanford, 1-0.
• Indiana was seeded No. 2 overall in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, marking the 13th time in the
last 15 years since the current seeding format began in 2003 that IU has earned a top-16 seed.
• The Hoosiers reached the College Cup for a NCAA-record 19th time. IU's 15 appearances in the College Cup Final is also a NCAA record.
• The berth for the Hoosiers was the team's 31st-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the
42nd overall in the program's history.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Senior D Andrew Gutman was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for the first time in his Hoosier career. Last season, Gutman was named Second-Team All-America by the United Soccer Coaches after helping the Hoosiers lead the NCAA in shutouts (18) and goals allowed (7). The First-Team All-Big Ten and All-Midwest Region selection also netted seven goals on the year and added four assists.
• Both Gutman and sophomore GK Trey Muse earned preseason All-America accolades from both Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer New
• Gutman, Muse and senior MF Francesco Moore were all named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List, as the Hoosiers were unanimously picked as the league's favorites in a poll conducted of the conference's head coaches.

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
• The North Carolina Tar Heels enter the season ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches poll after posting a record of 17-4-1 in 2017.
• UNC was picked to win not only the Coastal Division of the ACC in a preseason poll, but also the ACC title.
• On Friday, the Tar Heels took down East Tennessee State, 1-0, in Greensboro, N.C. Jelani Pieters headed home the winner in the 80th minute for UNC.
• The Tar Heels return 8 players from last years NCAA College Cup team that played at least 1,000 minutes, including Alex Comsia, Mauricio Pineda and John Nelson who all finished top 3 in minutes played last year.
•Comsia was named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List after helping lead the Tar Heels to back-to-back College Cups.

SERIES HISTORY
• Sunday's match between the Hoosiers and the Tar Heels will mark the ninth time the two programs have met on the pitch, with the series tied at 4-4-0.
• Last season, the two teams met in the NCAA College Cup semifinal, with the Hoosiers earning the victory, 1-0, on a goal from Andrew Gutman.
• In the tightly-contested eight matches, each team has scored six goals.
• The last regular season match between the two teams came on Sept. 4, 1994, with UNC beating IU, 2-1, in Bloomington.

HOOSIERS RETURN NINE STARTERS
• The Indiana Hoosiers return nine starters from the 2017 team that posted a record of 18-1-6 in 2017, reaching the College Cup Final.
• IU also returns 83 percent of the team's minutes played, 69 percent of the goals scored and 88 percent of the assists.
• Indiana's Grant Lillard signed a Homegrown Contract with the Chicago Fire, while freshman Mason Toye signed a Generation adidas deal with the MLS and was selected No. 8 overall by Minnesota United FC in the MLS SuperDraft.

INDIANA TABBED BIG TEN FAVORITES
• The Hoosiers were unanimously picked as the favorites in the Big Ten in a preseason poll conducted of the league's coaches.
• Along with being named the preseason favorite, IU's Andrew Gutman, Francesco Moore and Trey Muse were named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List.

IU OPENS SEASON RANKED NO. 2
• After reaching the College Cup Final in 2017, the Hoosiers opened the season ranked No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
• IU was also ranked No. 2 by College Soccer News and No. 5 by Top Drawer Soccer.

SENIOR-LADEN HOOSIERS
• The 2018 Hoosiers will feature a senior-laden group that includes four redshirt seniors and four additional fourth-year seniors.
• Over the course of their careers, the group has appeared in a total of 448 matches, earning 314 starts.
• All eight seniors have earned at least 21 starts, with both Andrew Gutman (67) and Francesco Moore (65) earning a start in every match they've played in their respective careers.

UP NEXT
• The No. 2-ranked Hoosiers will head home to host the 2018 adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington. IU will face No. 23 Dartmouth on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET.

No. 2 Indiana Faces No. 3 North Carolina on Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Griffin Dorsey

Andrew Gutman

Grant Lillard

Francesco Moore

Trey Muse

Mason Toye