After using a season-high 35 shots last Tuesday night against UNC-Asheville to net only two goals, the North Carolina men’s soccer team stepped up its efficiency.
In fact, the Tar Heels matched that two goal performance in just two shots in Friday night’s 2-0 win against Clemson.
“We talked about getting early goals and finally we got it tonight and it was a lot easier of game for us,” forward Billy Schuler said.
“It’s definitely a lot less pressure on us. It lets us play a little more and open things up.”
The Tar Heels have not been the fastest team out of the gate this season. Though they have trailed at halftime only once this season, Friday night’s halftime lead marked only the fourth time in 12 games this year that UNC has held the lead at the break.
“We were thinking about all the things we could do better on the way in and I had to stop and think and say, ‘Wait a second, we’re winning 2-0,’” coach Carlos Somoano said. “That’s better than nine of 10 games we’ve played so far.”
Actually, its better than all 11 of the previous games for the Tar Heels, as the two-goal difference is the largest lead UNC has taken into intermission this season.
The hot start might have had something to do with a new strategy for junior forward Ben Speas, who opened up the scoring effort with a goal in the 13th minute.
“We did change some things tactically,” Schuler said. “Ben has been sliding more inside to put him in better positions and obviously he was very successful with that. He linked up with me on our goal and he also had a nice goal.”
