April 26, 2002

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Defending NCAA finalist North Carolina will play one of its most challenging schedule in years in 2002. The 2002 docket was officially released by the University Friday.

Coach Anson Dorrance's 2002 team will play 16 of its 20 games against teams which played in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, led by 2001 NCAA semifinalist Portland. The only teams on the UNC schedule in 2002 which did not make the tournament last year are Richmond, Florida International, Oregon and NC State.

The Tar Heels will open the season with an exhibition match against traditional rival Notre Dame on August 23 in Fort Wayne, Ind. The following weekend the Tar Heels meet Nebraska and Southern California in a tournament in Lincoln, Neb. to open the regular season. Carolina will play before a home crowd for the first time the weekend of September 6 and 8 when the Tar Heels host the Carolina Nike Classic. Other teams in that tournament include Duke, Richmond and Washington.

Carolina also plays this year in tournaments in Houston, Texas as well as at Duke and St. Mary's of California. The Tar Heels close their regular season with four successive home matches against ACC opponents.

UNC was 24-1 last year and won its 13th successive ACC title. Carolina won five games in the NCAA Tournament before falling 1-0 to second-ranked Santa Clara in the final. UNC will return eight of the 11 starters from that team and it welcomes the nation's top-ranked recruiting class as judged by Soccer America magazine.

2002 Schedule

Fri.	Aug. 23	Notre Dame (Exhibition)	Ft. Wayne, Ind.	8:30 p.m.
Nebraska Tournament
Fri.	Aug. 30	Nebraska	Lincoln, Neb.	7:00 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 1	Southern Cal	Lincoln, Neb.	11:00 a.m.
Nike/Carolina Classic
Fri.	Sept. 6	Duke vs. Washington	Chapel Hill, N.C.	5:00 p.m.
Fri.	Sept. 6	Richmond vs. UNC	Chapel Hill, N.C.	7:00 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 8	Richmond vs. Duke	Chapel Hill, N.C.	1:00 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 8	Washington vs. UNC	Chapel Hill, N.C.	3:00 p.m.
Houston College Challenge
Fri.	Sept. 13	Texas	Houston, Texas	TBA
Sun.	Sept. 15	Texas A&M	Houston, Texas	TBA
Duke Tournament
Fri.	Sept. 20	Marquette	Durham, N.C.	5:00 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 22	Florida International	Durham, N.C.	1:00 p.m.
Sat.	Sept. 28	Portland	Portland, Ore.	1:00 p.m.
Sun.	Sept. 29	Oregon	Eugene, Ore.	1:00 p.m.
St. Mary's Fall Classic
Fri.	Oct. 4	Stanford	Moraga, Calif	2:00 p.m.
Sun.	Oct. 6	St. Mary's	Moraga, Calif.	2:30 p.m.
Thu.	Oct. 10	NC State	Raleigh, N.C.	7:00 p.m.
Sat.	Oct. 12	Clemson	Clemson, S.C.	7:00 p.m.
Tue.	Oct. 15	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	7:00 p.m.
Sat.	Oct. 19	Virginia	Chapel Hill, N.C.	2:00 p.m.
Sun.	Oct. 27	Duke	Chapel Hill, N.C.	1:00 p.m.
Fri.	Nov. 1	Maryland	Chapel Hill, N.C.	7:00 p.m
Sun.	Nov. 3	Wake Forest	Chapel Hill, N.C.	1:00 p.m.
Thu.-Sun.	Nov. 7-10	ACC Tournament	TBA	TBA
Fri.-Sun.	Nov. 15-17	NCAA First and Second Rounds	TBA	TBA
Fri.-Sun.	Nov. 22-24	NCAA Third Round	TBA	TBA
Fri.-Sun.	Nov. 29-Dec. 1	NCAA Quarterfinals	TBA	TBA
Fri.-Sun.	Dec. 6-8	NCAA College Cup	Austin, Texas	TBA