University of North Carolina Athletics
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Charlotte
Carolina Advances Past Charlotte 2-1 in NCAAs
November 23, 2014 | Men's Soccer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Despite rainy conditions, a raucous home crowd, and an own goal, the Tar Heels found a way to win 2-1 on the road against 10th-seeded Charlotte in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
“I'm proud of our guys. Charlotte was a great opponent and congratulations to them on a great season,” said Carolina head coach Carlos Somoano. “We're looking forward to moving on.”
UNC struck first 27 minutes into the match after Tyler Engel took a Verneri Valimaa pass and managed to get off a shot off from a tough angle just two yards from goal for a 1-0 Tar Heel lead.
“It was a great ball by Verneri (Valimaa). I was just trying to get in behind, it's something we've been practicing a lot,” said Engel. “I tried to make a play on it, saw that Andy (Craven) made a good run in the middle which forced the defender to make a step and I just saw the opening and tried to execute.”
Charlotte would not go away though, and led the shot count 5-4 at the end of the first half. The 49ers came out firing in the beginning of the second half, determined to even up the score.
“I think they spent a lot of energy trying to get back in the game,” said Somoano. “You see that a lot in soccer when you're down a goal and you have no choice, especially in a knockout game, you have no choice but to just leave it all on the line and they came and they came and they came and we were definitely on the backfoot.”
The charge finally paid off eight minutes into the second half when on the 49ers attack, Carolina midfielder Raby George wound up on the wrongside of a misdirected shot that deflected into the UNC goal, tying the score 1-1.
The Tar Heels refused to get discouraged and continued on in the back-and-forth game. Each team was desperate for the goal that would send them on into the next round of the NCAA tournament.
“I think we just tried to stay dedicated to our roles,” said goalkeeper Brendan Moore. We all have a role, especially on set pieces, and we know Charlotte is very set-piece oriented. They're very good in the air.
“We were extra-focused on that today and I think we did a good job in defending, getting into spots, getting to the ball.
It was an extremely physical matchup that saw five yellow cards shown, three to UNC. The weather conditions did not help either as players dealt with a slick field all afternoon.
“The field is heavy, uniforms are heavy, shoes are heavy,” stated Somoano on watching his squad compete in less than ideal conditions. “I was telling the guys coming over here it felt like times during the game we were running in mud, and then I realized we were.”
After a frenetic 36 minutes of tied action in the second half, it was Engel once again who gave his club the lead. After an Andy Craven shot from inside the box bounced off the crossbar, it came out to Engel who fired it in to complete the brace.
“I saw the ball get out wide and in my head I just said get in the box, anything can happen,” Engel recalled on his second goal. “Andy put a good ball in, the keeper had to make a save, it hit off the crossbar, lucky for me it bounced right to me and I just connected well and it went right in the back of the net.”
The Tar Heels will play the winner of the Clemson-Coastal Carolina match that has been moved to Monday due to unplayable field conditions in Clemson, S.C.
Next weeks third round match will be played next Sunday, Nov. 30 at a site to be determined.
