No. 12 North Carolina’s path through the ACC Championship has set up another meeting with NC State, and this one comes with a spot in the final on the line.
The Tar Heels will face the Wolfpack on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. It’s a quick turnaround from their Oct. 30 matchup in Chapel Hill, when the teams played to a 1-1 draw. Carolina enters the semifinal as the seven seed, while NC State is the 12th seed.
UNC has already punched through two tough opponents to reach this stage, beating Cal and No. 3 Clemson.
NC State has done the same in its own lane, knocking off Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. The win over Clemson pushed Carolina up to No. 11 in the RPI and No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
This will be the 96th all-time meeting between the programs. The series has been dominated by Clemson, which holds a 57-22-16 edge.
The Tar Heels are unbeaten in their last 10 matches, going 7-0-3 during that stretch, and a big reason why has been Joschi Schelb. The Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch list member has put together a huge season with 16 goals and three assists in 17 matches.
He’s scored in eight of the last 12 games, including the late equalizer against Cal in the opening round of the ACC Championship. Schelb’s 16 goals rank second nationally, only two behind Washington’s Zach Ramsey, and his 35 points are third nationally.
That total also ties him for fourth on UNC’s single-season goals list, and it’s the most by a Tar Heel since Billy Schuler scored 16 in 2011.
Luca Nikolai has also been a major part of the attack, posting five goals and 10 assists. His assist total is second in the ACC and tied for sixth nationally.
Ryan Zellefrow has added four goals and six assists for 14 points, good for third on the team, while Bertil Rygaard Hansen has used his pace to create problems all year and has produced two goals and eight assists. Those eight assists are tied for 22nd 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 on.
Thursday’s ACC semifinal will be shown on the ACC Network, with Joe Malfa and Devon Kerr on the call.
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