Fear the beard: men's soccer notebook

Here’s a look at the Tar Heels as they prepare to host Indiana tonight in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament:

The 2012 North Carolina men’s soccer team kept its tradition of growing playoff beards alive this postseason, and who could blame the Tar Heels after their 2011 postseason run ended in a national championship.

“Last year and this year we did the full beard,” senior goalkeeper Scott Goodwin said. “The year before that was moustaches, and that wasn’t too pretty. I think the beard’s a little bit better even though not everybody’s is too sharp.”

Goodwin said redshirt senior defenders Daniel Tannous and Jordan Gafa, as well as, redshirt junior forward Josh Rice sport the best beards on the team.

He was not as kind to freshman goalkeeper Cole Brooks.

Gafa’s short list for best beard included himself, Tannous and freshman defender Ryan McAnallen, but Gafa said not all the Tar Heels have impressed him.

“Danny (Garcia) and a lot of the younger guys are struggling right now,” Gafa said. “Him and Glen Long need to step their games up.”

Goodwin clutch in shootouts

When the Tar Heels play to a draw after 110 minutes of postseason soccer, it becomes captain keeper Scott Goodwin’s time to shine.

The Tar Heels have won six straight shootouts dating back to 2010, and Goodwin has been in goal for all six.

But Goodwin said he hasn’t always been confident in his shootout ability.

“It was never really a big strength of mine prior to college,” Goodwin said. “Just being able to practice it so much more has really helped me a lot.

“These guys come out here and hit a lot of PKs every day. (The goalkeepers) are on the other end of that and get a lot of practice saving them. You really get your fair share of time to not only try to do things better, but even try out your fair share of styles, see what really kind of works for you and then work to try to perfect that.”

In each of the Tar Heels’ last three runs deep into the NCAA tournament, Goodwin has helped to extend the team’s season.

During the 2010 NCAA tournament, Goodwin won shootouts in three consecutive rounds, making one save in each game.

“I think that confidence goes a long way to being able to just stay calm and take it one PK at a time.”

Goodwin made two saves in a shootout during last year’s NCAA semifinal when the Tar Heels beat UCLA 3-1 to advance to the national championship game.

This year, Goodwin denied a career-high three shots in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Maryland-Baltimore County to keep UNC’s postseason hopes alive.

Freshmen honored

With five of the Tar Heels’ top six scorers leaving after the 2011 season, UNC needed its incoming freshmen to make an impact immediately.

Forward Danny Garcia and defender Jonathan Campbell stepped in for key members of the Tar Heels’ 2011 national championship squad, and as a result were named to the College Soccer News’ All-Freshmen First Team on Wednesday.

“I’m proud of them,” coach Carlos Somoano said. “They deserve it. They worked for it. They earned it, and that’s pleasing to me to see them get the recognition.”

Garcia scored four goals and recorded a team-high six assists in 2012. He was named ACC freshman of the year after starting 20 of UNC’s 22 matches.

Campbell replaced All-American defender Matt Hedges at center back and was one of just two Tar Heels to start all 22 matches this season. He recorded one goal and one assist while playing on the nation’s top backline, which has allowed just six goals this season.

While Somoano said the standout freshmen deserved the honor, he said credit should also go to the teammates that pushed Garcia and Campbell.

“There are also a lot of guys on the team that have worked extremely hard that haven’t gotten the recognition that made the team function,” Somoano said.

“When the team’s successful, we get the individual awards. There’s a lot of people that go into (Garcia’s and Campbell’s) success, and I think their teammates deserve some credit for helping them be in positions to be successful.”