In the freneticism of a new season with a new crop of players, North Carolina men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano has found stability from an unlikely source.
As a 5-foot-5, 140-pound freshman, Danny Garcia doesn’t immediately jump off the roster sheet. But just three games into the season, he’s already caught the eye of his teammates and captured the trust of his head coach.
“He just provides a different calm to the game than the other guys right now,” Somoano said. “We have a lot of ambitious guys that are excitable, and their eyes get big. And he’s different.
“He brings a nice measure of composure, and it stands out so much because the other guys are not.”
That composure has enabled Garcia to thrive in key situations.
In the season opener against Gardner-Webb, Garcia didn’t get the start at forward, but he assisted two of the Tar Heels’ four goals off of the bench.
That performance earned Garcia a start in Friday night’s showdown with West Virginia, and the freshman rewarded Somoano’s faith handsomely.
Friday’s match was a highly physical, defensive battle. It took until the 58th minute for UNC’s Martin Murphy to break through with the game’s only goal — and he did it off a cross from Garcia.
“He’s been absolutely unbelievable,” said Murphy after Friday’s game. “I mean, before he came in we knew he was a big-time talent … He’s got great vision, and you saw that with the pass tonight.”
Garcia said he heard Wednesday he would get his first collegiate start, and he used the two-day gap to put in extra work on the practice fields and prepare himself mentally.