As the North Carolina men’s and women’s soccer teams gear up for the fast-approaching brunt of conference play, striking parallels have developed between the two programs’ respective starts to the season.
The season has unfolded in almost identical fashion for each team thus far — ascending from a preseason No. 3 rank to the top of the ladder, then getting knocked down from the top rung.
The men’s 2-1 victory against then-No. 1 Louisville and the women’s 2-1 win against then-No. 1 Notre Dame were both rematches of 2011 NCAA tournament losses. Both wins vaulted the Tar Heels to the No. 1 spot in the nation.
Away from the friendly confines of Fetzer Field, both teams fell victim to an unranked opponent in overtime last weekend — the women’s team lost 4-3 to Texas A&M and the men’s team suffered a 1-0 defeat to conference foe Virginia Tech.
Now, women’s coach Anson Dorrance and men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano are charged with the task of rallying their players after the first loss of the season and continuing to improve their teams as ACC play approaches.
Though the start of the season has been considerably alike for both programs, each team’s approach to the rest of the season will be different.
Progress has already begun for the men, as UNC defeated James Madison 4-1 Tuesday. Though UNC ended up with a comfortable win, Somoano was critical of his team’s performance. He said the team underperformed in the first half of the game.
Somoano said his team’s overall success will depend on its psychological approach to games as the season progresses.
“We have a lot of young guys on the field, and we have some older guys on the field. Our dynamic this year is kind of unique,” Somoano said.
As for the women’s team, Dorrance said simply keeping his team healthy will likely dictate its success this year.
