Tar Heels Squander Scoring Chances, Tie Deacs

UNC forward David Testo first demonstrated the Tar Heel attack's difficulty in finding the net when he beat Wake goalkeeper William Hesmer, just to have Demon Deacon defender James Riley deflect his shot away from an otherwise empty net in the 21st minute.

Testo's goal would have tied the game. Two minutes prior to his near-goal, Demon Deacon Justin Moose redirected the ball into the open net, after Scott Sealy pushed a shot under a charging UNC goalkeeper Ford Williams to give Wake an early 1-0 lead.

The Tar Heels continued to press the Deac's defense, and finally broke though in the 30th minute.

UNC midfielder Ray Fumo sent a cross into the box, and Ryan Kneipper headed the serve into the left side netting, tying the score at 1-1.

"Its huge to have a guy with size, that when a team sits in and wants to preserve a lead, you can still float a ball in the box and be able to win the header," said North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich of Kneipper.

In the second half, with the score still knotted at 1-1, the Tar Heels maintained constant pressure on Wake's backline, earning six scoring chances in 13 minutes, but failing to convert any of them.

The Deacs (10-0-4, 3-0-2 in the ACC) took advantage of a UNC turnover in the 63rd minute when midfielder Brian Carroll blasted a precision shot into the top left corner to give Wake a 2-1 lead.

"It's so frustrating when you're getting all those chances and not putting them away," Kneipper said. "I could just feel the tables turning like one was coming, and then when you get scored on, it's really a shot."

For the Tar Heels, that shot could've been to the gut. Lacking depth and fighting injuries, they could have folded.

But just five minutes later, North Carolina (10-5-1, 2-2-1) got the equalizer.

Testo's restart from about 35 yards out floated into the box and found the foot of Logan Pause, who notched the ball into the right-side netting to tie the score at 2.

"Logan can play multiple positions, we got fortunate on the restart. He was in right spot at the right time," Bolowich said.

"Wake plays with three defenders rather than four, so there was more real estate for us to attack, and it paid off."

UNC squandered numerous opportunities to take the lead in the last 10 minutes of regulation, and the two teams were forced to enter overtime.

"I am proud of the boys, the way we fought and came back from behind tying this game up," said Bolowich.

Overtime didn't end with a golden goal, but it provided the most bizarre incident of the game.

Tar Heel defender Grant Porter took down Wake midfielder Ryan Caugherty after he got rid of the ball, and a fight nearly broke out.

"It was a fair challenge," said UNC midfielder Sean McGinty. "Then the guy rolled on top of Grant and, when he thought no one was looking, he punched him in the stomach. And nobody saw it except me."

As the two rolled away from each other, McGinty emphatically charged Caugherty, attempting to take further action, but he was restrained by his teammates before things got ugly. McGinty and Caugherty were both issued yellow cards after the incident.

Despite being four spots below Wake Forest in the conference standings, Kneipper said the Tar Heels showed that haven't lost their swagger.

Kneipper said, "We wanted to show this team and everyone else that we can compete with anybody in the country."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.