No. 17 North Carolina is headed back into ACC tournament action Sunday, and the reward for getting through the first round is a trip to one of the conference’s toughest road venues.
The Tar Heels will face No. 3 Clemson in an ACC Championship quarterfinal at Historic Riggs Field in Clemson, S.C., with kickoff set for noon on the ACC Network.
UNC moved on after a penalty shootout win over Cal, while Clemson advanced by beating Duke, 2-1. The winner earns a spot in next Thursday’s semifinals in Cary.
This will be the 69th meeting between Carolina and Clemson. The Tigers hold a 30-28-10 edge in the series, and they already got the better of the Tar Heels once this season, winning 2-1 in Chapel Hill.
UNC, though, has been rolling since that loss. The Tar Heels are unbeaten in their nine matches since facing Clemson earlier this season, going 6-0-3 in that stretch.
Joschi Schelb has been the centerpiece of the attack all season. The Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch list member has 16 goals and two assists in 16 matches, and he’s found the net in eight of his last 11 games.
His late equalizer against Cal kept UNC alive and pushed the match to extra time. Schelb’s 16 goals are second nationally, just behind Washington’s Zach Ramsey, and his 34 points also rank second in the country.
The total is tied for fourth on UNC’s single-season list and is the most by a Tar Heel since Billy Schuler scored 16 in 2011.
Luca Nikolai has also been a major playmaker, putting up four goals and 10 assists. His assist total is tied for the league lead and tied for fifth nationally.
Ryan Zellefrow has chipped in with four goals and six assists for 14 points, good for third on the team.
Another threat has been stretching defenses with pace and turning that into production, finishing with one goal and eight assists. That assist total is tied for 18th nationally.
In goal, Alan Rutkowski delivered in the first penalty shootout of his college career against Cal, stopping two shots to help send the Tar Heels through.
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