Play the Craven, nevermore

The North Carolina men’s soccer team will look for its first road win of the season against Duke (3-4-1, 1-1-1) today, but it will do so without its second-leading goal scorer, junior forward Andy Craven.

No. 6 UNC (6-1-1, 2-0-1) recorded its third straight shutout in Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Wofford, playing with only 10 men for most of the game after Craven was sent off with a red card in the 16th minute.

NCAA rules require that Craven sits out Friday’s game, so the Tar Heels will need to find a replacement at center forward.

“Andy is definitely a big loss, but that happens all the time,” senior forward Martin Murphy said. “So we’re just going to have to prepare like we usually would.”

Sophomore midfielder Mikey Lopez said it will be tough for UNC’s attack to play without Craven’s skill set.

“He definitely brings a good sense of playing the ball behind the defense,” Lopez said. “He makes good runs behind them. It’ll be tough for someone else to replicate that.”

UNC, which has struggled to generate offense at times this season, will be challenged by Duke goalkeeper James Belshaw, who has allowed just 0.85 goals per game and has earned back-to-back ACC Player of the Week honors.

But Lopez said the Tar Heels are unfazed by Belshaw’s accolades.

“I’ve read about him, but I’ve also seen the teams that they’ve played and the scores that they’ve gotten,” Lopez said. “I don’t think any of our players are too concerned about him being ACC Player of the Week for two times consecutively. It’s just another goalkeeper that we have to beat.”

If the offense does struggle, the team can likely count on its defense to pick up the slack as it has done throughout the season.

UNC has allowed just 0.25 goals per game, and those numbers rank UNC third in the NCAA and first in the conference.

Head coach Carlos Somoano said his entire team deserves the credit for the Tar Heels’ staunch defensive effort, not just the back four defenders.

“The six in front of the back four have been outstanding in terms of pressing and closing down players,” he said. “When you have a team that’s doing this well defensively, it’s not a back four. It’s not a goalkeeper. It’s a unit of 11 that’s really coordinating themselves well.”

Somoano said Tuesday’s effort without Craven was a positive sign for the Tar Heels as the season progresses.

“To be able to do that a man down shows something,” Somoano said. “Those are the kind of things you look for to see if your team really has the juice to do some damage during the season.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.