North Carolina
Indiana
Indiana Stops Men's Soccer, 1-0, to Advance to Fourth Consecutive NCAA Final Four
December 2, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Dec. 2, 2000
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Two-time defending NCAA champion Indiana scored a second-half goal and held No. 1-seeded North Carolina scoreless for the first time all season as the Hoosiers defeated the Tar Heels, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon in NCAA Men's College Cup quarterfinal action at Fetzer Field. The loss ends Carolina's school-record 15-game winning streak. Ryan Mack scored the game-winner for Indiana.
With the victory, IU (16-6) advances to its fourth consecutive NCAA Final Four. The Hoosiers have won 13 straight NCAA Tournament games. Indiana advances to Friday's national semifinals in Charlotte, N.C., where it will face Creighton. The Blue Jays defeated Virginia, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, Va.
Carolina (21-3) sees perhaps its finest season ever come to a close. The Tar Heels set school records during the 2000 season with 21 victories, a 15-game winning streak and a 21-2 start to the campaign. UNC's five Atlantic Coast Conference wins this season are the most in school history and the Tar Heels ended the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time ever in each of the national polls.
After a scoreless first half, Mack slipped behind the Tar Heel defense and took a pass from teammate Pat Noonan and scored at the 58:52 mark for the only goal of the game. From that point on, the Hoosiers packed almost their entire team into their defensive half of the field and held on for the 1-0 win.
Carolina had a number of scoring opportunities in the final 20 minutes of the game but were unable to capitalize as the IU defense tightened when it needed to. Indiana goalkeeper Colin Rogers played very well in the goal, recording six saves in the game and stopping several point-blank Tar Heel shots in the frantic final minutes of the game. UNC was shutout for the first time this season and the first time since a 4-0 loss to Duke in the 1999 ACC Tournament semifinals.
The Tar Heels outshot the Hoosiers, 18-8, in the game, and had eight corner kicks, all in the second half.
