UNC men's soccer ties with Virginia Tech

The No. 1 North Carolina men’s soccer team has played its fair share of overtime games.

Out of UNC’s six regular season games so far this season, only one of them—a 4-0 defeat of Coastal Carolina—has ended in regulation. The other five games have all gone into extra time including the latest match at Virgina Tech.

The score didn’t change once throughout the 110-minute game between UNC (3-0-3) and the Hokies, with neither team scoring a goal and both walking away with a 0-0 draw.

While the offense hasn’t been clicking the entire season, the defense has kept the team in every single game — one of the main reasons why the team has yet to lose one.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Brendan Moore gives a lot of that credit to his back line.

“I mean they are tremendous,” Moore said. “A lot of teams try and loft the ball over the back line and try and get in behind us and the guys in the back have done a great job of keeping the ball in front of them.

“Not letting guys slip through behind them to get a one on one with me.”

The defense has been even better in extra time, not allowing a goal outside of regulation yet. Moore also talked a bit about the pressure that comes when you know that the next goal determines who wins the game.

“It definitely puts some pressure on us,” Moore said. “Especially at that point when one goal can win the game, but I just try to stay focused on what needs to be done and that’s keep the ball out of the back of the net.

“Keeping my composure, not letting my emotions get to me… staying calm and taking it one step at a time.”

One step at a time is also the mentality of the attacking players. Even though they didn’t score against Virginia Tech, Moore believes the offense as a whole took a step forward, and junior forward Tyler Engel agrees.

“We played a lot better this game I feel like than we have been playing in the past,” Engel said. “We are playing more side to side, we are swinging the ball left to right, getting everybody involved.

“We are creating chances, we’re just not converting and that’s what we need to be working on.”

The Tar Heels definitely had no shortage of chances. They had 18 shots on goal compared to just 10 from Virginia Tech. Five of those came in overtime, while Virginia Tech managed just two.

UNC also led in corners, picking up seven throughout the game while Virginia Tech had to settle for just three.

As long as team captain and junior defender Boyd Okwuono and the rest of the Tar Heel defense keep up their impressive play, the offense should be able to slowly come together and start finishing more of those chances.

“I’d say we just need to tighten up our passing and move off the ball a little better,” Engel said. “If guys are passing and moving then we are going to create even more chances…put them away and score two or three goals.”