As the sun began to set Tuesday, marking the eventual end of its training session, the North Carolina men’s soccer team remained on the cold, dry practice field.
Coach Carlos Somoano arranged a row of balls and kicked them one by one to Tyler Engel, pausing in between each exchange to watch the junior forward do something the Tar Heels have not done much this year come game time — take penalty kicks.
In the goal, backup goalkeeper Sam Euler fended off the shots, and at the opposite end of the field starting goalie and Second Team All-ACC selection Brendan Moore followed suit with his group.
Tonight, UNC will face South Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulls enter the game with nine ties this season, and the Tar Heels with five.
But in the postseason, there are no ties — after two scoreless overtime periods the match is decided by a penalty shootout between the two teams. So for Moore, the extra work is necessary.
“I can’t tell you how many I’ve taken, but I’ve taken a good amount in the past week or two preparing for the postseason,” Moore said. “It definitely helps.”
Engel, who leads the Tar Heels in six goals this year, said each player on the team has had to take at least five penalty shots in the practices leading up to the tournament opener, using a specific strategy to find the perfect shot to go to if needed.
“You just have your spot, tell our goalie where you’re going and just see if he can save it,” Engel said. “That’s how we practice, which is very good because you get very confident in your penalty kick if you’re able to score when the goalie know exactly where you’re going.”
The last time UNC attempted a penalty kick — a missed shot by sophomore midfielder Raby George — was Oct. 12 in a 2-1 win against Boston College. The victory started a streak in which the Tar Heels won five out of six games before ending the regular season with a 1-0 loss to N.C. State and falling to Clemson 2-1 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals last week.
