Late goal seals tough defeat

What if North Carolina had converted a few of its nine first-half shots?

What if the Tar Heel defender hadn't turned over the ball deep in his own end?

What if the opponent who forced the turnover hadn't been staring at an unbroken expanse of green carpet - or was it a red carpet? - between himself and 6-foot-3 goalkeeper Ford Williams?

What if Williams had eaten one more bowl of Wheaties as a kid? Maybe then he would've grown to 6-foot-4.

Maybe then he could've have stretched juuust far enough to deflect the game-winning goal.

Maybe then he could've preserved the scoreless tie and given the Tar Heels a chance to punch in a game-winner of their own.

Instead, the 85th-minute shot by Virginia Tech striker Patrick Nyarko landed in the back of the net - not in Williams' gloves - and the No. 4 UNC men's soccer team trudged slowly off the Fetzer Field turf Saturday night, 1-0 losers in a game they probably shouldn't have lost.

"They knew that all they needed the longer the game was going on was one opportunity," said UNC coach Elmar Bolowich. "And that's what they got."

For nearly two halves the Tar Heels (8-2-1, 1-2-1 in the ACC) out-shot, out-passed and outplayed Va. Tech, dominating time of possession so thoroughly that you half-expected to see Phil Ford running the four corners, not Ford Williams directing four defenders.

UNC took nine shots in the first 45 minutes, while the Hokies (5-3-3, 1-1-2) mustered just three, content to pack their defense into the box. It was soccer's version of the rope-a-dope, and they brushed aside Tar Heel challenge after Tar Heel challenge waiting patiently all the while for an opportunity of their own.

"It becomes pretty monotonous after a while," said forward Corey Ashe. "You try to find the holes, and they're constantly kicking the ball out and they build their confidence. - They got their one chance they were looking for and happened to put it away."

Time after time, opportunity stood on the front porch, knocking. And time after time, UNC failed to get up to answer the door, sailing shots wide, dribbling promising opportunities out of bounds and generally doing things befitting of a team lacking a sense of urgency.

So when the Tar Heels failed on a clear attempt just to the left of their box, Nyarko swooped in, stole the ball and cut a diagonal path toward Williams, who was forced to inch forward to try to eliminate the angle.

Williams touched the ball just 15 times all game, and though this was one of those times, the keeper was able to get only his fingertips on the shot, a half-kicked, half-flicked, right-footed screwball that splashed into the lower right corner of the goal.

And as the Tar Heels controlled play for the better part of those first 85 minutes, it seemed unthinkable that they could find a way to lose. Unthinkable, that is, to everyone but themselves, especially as play wore on with the score knotted at zero.

"We haven't put together a 90 minutes of focus yet this year," Williams said. "It's a little bit of a lack of leadership. I try to - I'm a little bit further away, so it's harder for me - but we need some other guys on this field, honestly, to step up and get guys excited and in it and mentally focused for a full 90 minutes."

But until that happens, UNC will be left wondering one simple question.

What if?

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.