Spartans to host Georgia in final nonconference tilt Friday

UNCG coach Steve Nugent

UNCG vs. Georgia, Sept. 16, 7 p.m., UNCG Soccer Stadium

LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com
Video: Spartan All Access (free)

Storylines

- In a match that will pit UNCG head coach Steve Nugent against his former team, UNCG's women's soccer team will host Georgia at the UNCG Soccer Stadium on Friday in the final nonconference contest for both teams. Admission is free.

- Nugent, in his first season at the helm for the Spartans, was an assistant for the Bulldogs from 2007-10, helping Georgia to a 37-23-6 mark and two NCAA appearances.

- UNCG has faced one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the country so far this year. At 1-5 overall, the Spartans have squared off against five teams that have been ranked in at least one national poll this season, with four of them being ranked at the time of the contest. UNCG fell to then-No. 1 North Carolina and then-No. 10 Duke last weekend at the Duke Nike Classic in Durham, N.C., by identical 2-0 scores. The Spartans have also lost to Virginia Tech, which was unranked at the time but has since appeared in the Soccer America and NSCAA/Continental Tire polls, then-No. 14 Wake Forest and then-No. 23 Tennessee.

- Entering the weekend, juniors Lauren Hein and Karin Sendel are UNCG's leading scorers with four points each. They both did all of their damage for the season against George Mason on Sept. 2, with Hein scoring a pair of goals and Sendel recording a goal and two assists. Keeper Kelsey Kearney has logged all 540 minutes for the Spartans this far, turning in a 2.67 goals against average.

- Sendel will return to the UNCG lineup Friday after missing Sunday's contest at Duke. The Kiryat Tivon, Israel, native left the team after the North Carolina match to return to her home country and play with Israel's full national team in a Euro 2013 qualifier against France, which finished fourth at this summer's World Cup. Sendel was Israel's first substitute off the bench, entering the match in the 59^th minute. France won the contest 5-0.

- Kearney, a three-time All-SoCon selection (first team, 2008 and 2010), is UNCG's career leader in goals against average, as she has posted a 0.80 mark so far. After setting UNCG's school record with 31 shutouts in just her first three seasons, she needs six more to become the SoCon's career leader in that category. Kearney posted shutout halves against both UNC and Duke, with the span between North Carolina's last goal and Duke's first goal an impressive 112:57 – more than the equivalent of a regulation game and two overtime periods.

- Kearney was named one of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award at the beginning of the season. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award is given in football, men's and women's soccer, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball and volleyball.

- Kearney and defender Stephanie Partenheimer have been iron women in the Spartans' defense so far this season. Kearney and Partenheimer  – who are both team captains – are the only two players on UNCG's roster to have played all 540 minutes so far this season.

- UNCG is 1-0 against Georgia all-time. The Spartans took a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs in Greensboro on Sept. 17, 1995. Seven different players scored for UNCG in that contest, which saw the Spartans outshoot the Bulldogs 30-2 and hit the crossbar six times. The 1995 season was Georgia's first of existence.

- Victorious in four straight games, Georgia is 5-2 on the season with wins over Furman, Minnesota, Iowa State, Mercer and Georgia State. The Bulldogs have lost to Texas and Villanova.

- Against Georgia State on Sunday, sophomore forward Alexa Newfield turned in a six-point day with two goals and two assists in the 4-1 win. Senior Ashley Miller scored just 42 seconds into the game to set the tone early.

- Newfield, who also had both goals in Georgia's 2-1 overtime win over Mercer on Sept. 9, was named the Southeastern Conference's Offensive Player of the Week. She was also named the SoccerSavings.com/Soccer News Net Women's College Player of the Week.

- Newfield leads the Bulldogs in scoring (15 points), goals (six) and assists (three). Miller and Jamie Pollock are tied for second on the team with five points each (two goals, one assist each). Keeper Ashley Baker, a Nugent protégé, has started all seven matches and posted a 1.33 GAA with a .735 save percentage in 609:07 of work. Baker was the SEC's Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5 after earning Defensive MVP honors and leading the Bulldogs to the title at the Minnesota Gold Classic.

- Georgia has outscored its competition 12-4 in its five wins but is being outscored 6-2 in its losses. The Bulldogs have allowed just three goals in their last four games but have shut out just one opponent on the season (Iowa State).

- UNCG -