North Carolina
South Carolina
No. 1 Men's Soccer Top No. 10 South Carolina, 2-0, In Regular-Season Finale
November 5, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 5, 2000
COLUMBIA, S.C.-- The No.-1 ranked University of North Carolina men's soccer team posted its Atlantic Coast Conference-leading ninth shutout of the season and defeated No. 10 South Carolina, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Eugene E. Stone Stadium. The win for UNC (17-2) is its first against USC (11-3-3) since 1993. The Tar Heels have won 11 consecutive games, tying the longest winning streak in the history of the UNC program.
The Tar Heels, who at 5-1 in the ACC had already completed conference regular-season play prior to the weekend, also claimed their first-ever No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament. UNC, Virginia and Duke all finished 5-1, but Carolina claimed the top seed based on the tie-breaker of goal differential in ACC games. UNC outscored its ACC opponents, 23-9, this season for a goal differential of 14. Virginia (18-7 for a differential of 11) claimed the No. 2 seed, while Duke (19-9 for a differential of 10) will be the No. 3 seed.
The Tar Heels earn a bye to Friday's ACC Tournament semifinals and will play the winner of Thursday's game between No. 4 seed Clemson and No. 5 seed Wake Forest. UNC will play in Friday's first semifinal, scheduled to begin at Wake Forest's Spry Stadium at 5:30 p.m. The winner of that game advances to Sunday afternoon's championship game.
Sunday's first half saw the Tar Heels out shoot the Gamecocks 7-6, and UNC ended the match outshooting USC by a 13-11 count. USC had several chances to take the lead in the first half but were unable to put the ball in the back of the net.
The Tar Heels came out strong in the second half and eventually broke the scoreless tie at the 66:04 mark. Logan Pause slipped the ball past USC goalkeeper Henry Ring for his fourth goal of the season.
The one goal lead stood until Chris Carrieri scored his 24th goal of the season in the 90th minute. Carrieri took the deep pass from Michael Bucy and hit the back right corner of the net with his 13-yard shot.
The loss was USC's first this season to a ranked team. The Gamecocks have wins against No.1 Virginia, No. 2 Penn State and No. 8 Maryland. South Carolina also tied No. 20 Wake Forest, No. 8 Clemson and No.14 Furman.
