UNC men’s soccer beats UNC-W in season opener

It was a scene unlike anything North Carolina midfielder Enzo Martinez had ever seen before, and he’s been playing soccer since he was three years old.

UNC-Wilmington packed all 11 players in the goal to defend a free kick taken from just six yards away.

But Martinez would beat them all to score the first goal in the regular-season opener for UNC and give the Tar Heels an early 1-0 lead on their way to a 3-1 win against the Seahawks.

Seahawk keeper Brandon Miller, who otherwise had a fantastic day in goal, received a back pass from one of his defenders seven minutes into the game.

When the Tar Heel forwards started creeping toward Miller, he scooped the ball up with his hands standing six yards away from his own goal. Keepers can only use their hands on passes from their own teammates if they come from a header.

The referee ruled it an illegal backward pass and awarded the Tar Heels an indirect free kick from point-blank range.

Martinez would handle it from there.

“That situation right there, you know that you can’t hit the ball direct, someone has to touch it before you hit it so you know they’re going to be pressuring it,” Martinez said. “You don’t need power, you don’t need anything in that situation, just put it in the back of the net.”

Coach Carlos Somoano was very pleased with the execution of the set play, especially since it got the offense going for the Tar Heels.

“Enzo was very clever with that ball. He got it off quickly, which caught them off guard,” Somoano said. “That’s really where the players come into this thing, their talents and their creativity and ability and they pulled off a great play.”

The Tar Heels netted a second goal in the 61st minute off the foot of Billy Schuler. Schuler connected from three yards out off a cross from Rob Lovejoy. But before the Tar Heels could appreciate the 2-0 lead, the Seahawks had already struck back.

Fifty seconds after Schuler’s goal, UNC-W’s Daniel Roberts lobbed a free kick into the box where Jacob VanCompernolle headed it just over the hands of UNC keeper Scott Goodwin.

“That was disappointing,” Somoano said. “I thought we didn’t give them a whole lot of clear looks at our goal throughout the game, and then they executed a very good free kick to give them credit.”

In contrast, North Carolina had plenty of good looks at goal — taking 18 total shots and 11 in the second half. Somoano said that he was most pleased with not just the quantity of the shots his team was taking but the quality. He was also quick to praise Miller, who came away with eight saves in the game, including a pair of strong diving saves and a charging slide to bat away a shot attempt.

Lovejoy was subbed back into the game in the final seven minutes to provide some speed at the top of the UNC offense and try to extend the one-goal lead. With less than five minutes to play in the game, Lovejoy headed Kirk Urso’s corner into the back of the net to give UNC the final 3-1 advantage.

“It was pretty aggressive in there at first,” Lovejoy said. “The goalie and the defender were both kind of shoving me. I just got a step on them and beat them to the ball. That was a great cross by Kirk Urso.”

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