Ikoba Leads Men's Soccer Past No. 22 Davidson, 3-0

Monday, September 6

Davidson, N.C.

7 pm

North Carolina

3-0-1

Davidson

2-1-1

North Carolina

Davidson

September 6, 2021 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats (.pdf)

DAVIDSON, N.C.—Freshman Tega Ikoba scored twice as the second-ranked University of North Carolina men's soccer team grabbed a big road win, 3-0, at No. 22 Davidson on Monday night at Alumni Stadium.

Fifth-year senior Santiago Herrera also scored for Carolina, which improved to 3-0-1 in 2021 and picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent this Fall.

UNC is No. 2 in the latest Top Drawer Soccer Poll, released on Monday. The Wildcats were No. 22 in the same set of rankings. Carolina is coming off a 3-0 win over Georgia Southern on Friday Sept. 3.

The Tar Heels have outscored their opponents, 14-1, through four games this season.

Ikoba opened the scoring with his first career goal in the 34^th minute, taking a beautiful pass from fellow freshman Ken Bellini as he streaked down the right sideline and fed Ikoba in the box for a 1-0 lead.

That slim Tar Heel advantage held for more than the next 50 minutes of tense action between the in-state foes until Herrera gathered a loose ball in front of the net and scored at the 84:12 mark for a 2-0 lead.

Ikoba iced the game in the 89^th minute when he took a pass from Milo Garvanian and scored to make it 3-0 at the 88:06 mark.

The game was tight throughout until the final minutes, a defensive struggle that saw only 14 total shots between the two teams (10 by UNC). All three of Carolina's shots on goal found the back of the net.

Davidson committed 15 fouls to UNC's six in the contest.

Graduate student goalkeeper Alec Smir went the distance in the net for Carolina, posting his third shutout in four games this season while making a save in guidance of yet another stout defensive performance by the UNC defense.

The Tar Heels will return to the field on Friday night in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener at No. 6 Pittsburgh. Carolina's next home game will be on Tuesday Sept. 14 against Campbell at Dorrance Field.