Men's Soccer Opens The Season At Georgetown Thursday

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina men's soccer will open its 2026 regular season when it travels to Washington, D.C. to take on No. 5 Georgetown on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Heels open the season as the No. 25 team in Top Drawer Soccer's preseason rankings. Carolina and Georgetown have met twice with the most recent encounter being a 0-0 draw that saw the Heels advance in the NCAA Tournament on penalties in 2010.

Carolina's match at Georgetown will air on ESPN+ with Dan Helfrich and Tom Greaser on the call.

Game Info
Who: Carolina at Georgetown
Where: Washington, D.C. – Shaw Field
When: Thursday, Aug. 20 – 7:30 p.m.

Tar Heel Tidbits

Carolina played in the NCAA Championship for the 32nd time last season and now has a record of 43-25-14 in tournament games. It was the 14th time in head coach Carlos Somoano's 15 years that the Heels were selected for the tournament.
Head Coach Carlos Somoano is in his 16th season at the helm of Carolina soccer (25th overall). He holds a career record of 185-68-55 and an NCAA record of 18-9-10.
Carolina opens the season in the 'Others Receiving Votes' category of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and was ranked No. 25 by TopDrawerSoccer.
Carolina's transfer class of Nick Lockermann, Nico Loebus, Joschi Schelb and Ryan Zellefrow was ranked No. 2 by TopDrawerSoccer, while its incoming freshman class was ranked 14th.
Luca Nikolai was drafted by NYCFC, but made the decision to return to Carolina to finish off his college career leading the Tar Heels. He was a third-team All-South Region and second-team All-ACC selection last year.
Carolina had six players listed on the Hermann Trophy Watch Lists. Lockermann earned a spot with the defenders, while Evans Dapaah, Loebus, Nikolai, Joschi Schelb and Zellefrow were listed on the midfielders list. Although Schelb will play as a forward this season.
After four years with Andrew Cordes in goal, Alan Rutkowski is in line to handle the goalkeeping duties. The Elmwood, N.J. native served as Cordes' understudy last season after playing his club football with the New York Red Bulls.

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Players Mentioned

Andrew Cordes

Evans Dapaah

Nick Lockermann

Nico Loebus

Luca Nikolai

Alan Rutkowski

Joschi Schelb

Ryan Zellefrow

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