October 23, 2010

No. 19 UNCG (14-1-1, 9-0-0 SoCon) at Appalachian State (5-7-4, 2-4-3 SoCon), Oct. 24, 2 p.m., Boone, N.C.

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Storylines

- The 19^th-ranked UNCG Spartans will try to run their winning streak to 12 games Sunday when they take on Appalachian State in a Southern Conference clash in Boone, N.C.

- The Spartans clinched at least a share of their fifth straight SoCon regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Championship with a 2-0 win over Western Carolina on Thursday. With one more Spartan win or one more conference loss by The Citadel, UNCG would win the title outright, making it the first team in league history to win five consecutive outright titles. Furman won five straight SoCon crowns from 1999 to 2003, but shared the 2001 crown with UNCG and Western Carolina.

- At 14-1-1, UNCG is off to the best start in the program's 23-year history. The 1991 squad previously held that distinction, opening 9-1-0 before dropping its next game. The Spartans entered the week tied with two-time defending national champion North Carolina for sixth in the nation in winning percentage and now boast a .906 mark.

- The Spartans have won 11 straight games, the second-longest streak in school history and tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation. The winning streak is just the third of 10 games or more in school history, all of which have come in the last four seasons. UNCG last won 11 straight during the 2007 season, when it set the school record of 12 consecutive wins from Sept. 27 through Nov. 9 of that year.

Active winning streaks (all teams play again Sunday unless otherwise noted)
Hofstra – 15
Stanford – 13
Dayton – 12
UC Irvine – 11
UNCG – 11
Boston U. – 10
Marquette – 10
Denver – 10
Toledo – 10

- UNCG is ranked for the fifth week this season. The Spartans are No. 19 in the Soccer America poll, moving up one spot from last week, and are No. 21 in the NSCAA/Hendrickcars.com poll, up one from last week.

- The Spartans are 25^th in the latest RPI rankings. Samford is the next-highest SoCon team at No. 78, while The Citadel is the only other league team in the top 100 at No. 99.

- UNCG is 14-1-0 against Appalachian State all-time in a series that began in 1997 when the Spartans joined the SoCon. The squads have met every year since then, including twice in 2003 and 2008, when they also squared off in the SoCon tournament. The Spartans have won nine straight in the series, with App's only win coming via a 1-0 score in 2002. UNCG has outscored App 43-5 in the series, posting 10 shutouts in 15 meetings. The Mountaineers have never scored multiple goals against UNCG.

- Jaimey Etten notched her first career multi-goal game in UNCG's 3-1 win over Appalachian on Oct. 11 of last season. Etten scored a pair of first half goals, in the 15^th and 27^th minutes, but ASU's Hannah Coad scored in 70^th minute to make it a one-goal game. Lauren Hein tallied for the Spartans in the 82^nd minute to give UNCG some breathing room and lock up the win. Tabitha Padgett picked up a pair of assists in the game.

- The Spartans topped Western Carolina on Thursday, 2-0. Cat Barnekow scored an unassisted goal in the 18^th minute, taking the ball in from the midfield and blowing past a couple of defenders for her fourth goal of the season. Padgett made it a two-goal affair just before halftime, scoring off a Stine Schoening pass in the 45^th minute. In addition to securing the No. 1 seed in the SoCon tournament and at least a share of the SoCon regular-season title, the win sent out seniors Katie Evans, Jenn Partenheimer, Jen Rincon and student assistant coach Barrie Vogel with a win on Senior Day.

- Padgett, the reigning Southern Conference Co-Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, leads UNCG with a career-high 25 points on a career-high 10 goals and a career-high five assists this season. Barnekow is second with four goals and a SoCon-best 10 assists for 18 points, while Kristen Schmidbauer is third with 17 points on six goals and five assists. Keeper Kelsey Kearney has played all but 48 minutes in goal this season, posting a goals against average of 0.57 and a save percentage of .833 in 1,412:07. She has turned in eight shutouts and allowed just nine goals in 16 games.

- UNCG leads the SoCon in several categories: points per game (7.62), goals per game (2.44), goals (39) assists (44), assists per game (2.75), corner kicks per game (5.88), goals allowed (10) and GAA (0.62). Barnekow leads the league in assists (10) and is fourth nationally in assists per game, while Padgett leads the league in points (25), points per game (1.56), goals (10) and goals per game (0.62). Kearney leads the SoCon in GAA (0.57) and is second in shutouts (eight) and shutouts per game (0.50).

- Kearney is UNCG's and the SoCon's career leader in GAA, as she holds a mark of 0.62 in 54 matches played. She is also UNCG's leader in career shutouts with 27, with her effort Thursday against Western moving her into a tie for third in SoCon history. She is now just one back of second place and nine back of the record of 36.

- UNCG has made a habit of the quick strike this season. In 16 matches, the Spartans have scored back-to-back goals within five minutes of each other nine times. Taking it a step further, UNCG had three within five minutes at Chattanooga on Sept. 24 and three in a span of exactly nine minutes against Wofford on Oct. 15.

- UNCG has outscored its competition 39-10 this season. The Spartans have allowed just two first-half goals this season, outscoring their competition 20-2 in the opening frame, and have not trailed at the half this year.

- Of UNCG's 39 goals scored thus far this season, 26 of them have come from underclassmen. Sophomores Padgett (10), Hein (four), and Jessi Gulledge (three) account for 16, while freshmen Schmidbauer (six), Stine Schoening (one), Kory Spotts (one) and Lauren Lover (one) account for the other nine. Partenheimer, a senior, has scored six, while juniors Barnekow (four) and Etten (three) have the only other goals by upperclassmen.

- Appalachian State is on the bubble for making the SoCon tournament, as it currently sits seventh with a 2-4-3 league record (nine points)  – and only the top eight teams participate in the tournament. The seventh through 12^th-place teams in the SoCon are separated by just three points, and with two games remaining for all the teams involved and three points at stake for each contest, no one is eliminated.

- The Mountaineers have scored multiple goals in a game just twice this season, in a 2-1 win over Winthrop on Aug. 29 and in a 3-1 win over Chattanooga on Oct. 17. The team has played to three scoreless draws, including in back-to-back games against Wofford (Oct. 3) and Davidson (Oct. 8). ASU has been shut out eight times on the year.

- Coad leads the Apps in scoring with six points on three goals this season. Kara Buono is second with three points on a goal and an assist. The Mountaineers have scored just 11 goals in 16 matches this season, but have compensated for that a bit with a solid defense that has allowed just 18. Keeper Caroline Clarke has started 15 contests, posting a 1.14 GAA and an .827 save percentage in 1,426:41. She has posted five shutouts.

- Appalachian is last in the league in points per game (1.94), goals (11), goals per game (0.69) and assists (nine). The Apps are third in goals allowed with just 18 and GAA (1.03).

- App is 2-3-2 at home on the season, while UNCG is 5-1-0 in true road games and 6-1-1 away from Greensboro altogether.

- UNCG -