Men’s Soccer Opens The Season With A Hard-Earned Draw At No. 5 Georgetown

Thursday, August 20

Washington, D.C.

7:30 PM

North Carolina

0-0-1, 0-0-0

Georgetown

0-0-1, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
North Carolina	1	0	1
Georgetown	0	1	1

Men’s Soccer Opens The Season With A Hard-Earned Draw At No. 5 Georgetown

August 20, 2026 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of North Carolina men's soccer team opened its season with a hard-earned draw at No. 5 Georgetown on Thursday night. Joschi Schelb got the Tar Heels on the board in the seventh minute and the two teams battled the rest of the night. Georgetown used a lovely passing exchange in the 60th minute to equalize and the two side slugged it out the rest of the way.

Both teams had chances to take the match, but Carolina's goalkeeper Alan Rutkowski stepped up in his first collegiate start to keep the Hoyas at bay. The Elmwood Park, N. J. native made five saves on the night.

Schelb's goal was perfectly worked as Luca Nikolai danced down the right flank and served in a pinpoint cross. Schelb was there to meet it with his head and send a looping header into the top right corner.

How It Happened

3' – Georgetown delivered a nice cross but the header hit the crossbar and UNC was able to clear.
7' – Bertil Rygaard Hansen fired low and left but Georgetown's keeper was up to the task.
7' – Luca Nikolai sent in a perfect cross and Joschi Schelb beat the keeper with a looping header into the top right corner.
17' – Georgetown's Mitchell Baker was in on goal but Alan Rutkowski stoned him to force a corner kick.
35' – GU's Noah Satriano picked up a yellow after pulling back Ryan Zellefrow as the Heels were hunting on the break.
45' – Rutkowski and Baker met again as a looping ball was there for the taking but Rutkowski met him at the summit and knocked his header around the post.
60' – Georgetown equalizes on a well-worked goal with Mateo Ponce Ocampo providing a filthy touch to put Baker in on goal and he slots it in the left corner.
67' – Rutkowski with a nice save on an Ocampo shot after cutting in off the left wing.
73' – A beautiful series of play from Ryan Zellefrow to Rygaard Hansen and then Schelb slotted a shot that was destined for the bottom right corner, but GU's keeper made an excellent save.
81' – Schelb saw yellow after a shove on the Hoya.
82' – Georgetown hit the crossbar for the second time after the ball bounced around in the box.
90' – The referee called a handball on UNC that would have been a penalty but it was clearly the wrong decision and the game ended in a draw.

Tar Heel Tidbits

Joschi Schelb scored his first goal as a Tar Heel. He has now 21 goals for his career.
Luca Nikolai picked up the 14th assist of his career on Schelb's goal.
In his first collegiate start, GK Alan Rutkowski made five critical saves to help Carolina earn the draw.

Up Next
North Carolina will play its second of two consecutive road games to open the season when it visits Memphis on Monday with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Stay up to date with UNC men's soccer by following the Tar Heels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.