UNC men’s soccer goes 1-2 in exhibition matchups

The North Carolina men’s soccer team lost to Wake Forest 2-1 after the Demon Deacons put away a game-winning goal in the last three minutes of its final exhibition game of the season.

The Tar Heels exit their three-game exhibition schedule 1-2 after beating Gardner-Webb 7-0 and dropping a 1-2 match to the Carolina Railhawks.

Scoring:

The bright spot for UNC in the matchup with Wake Forest came off the foot of senior forward Tyler Engel in the 57th minute to tie the game 1-1. Engel received a pass from redshirt senior forward Andy Craven — who missed the entire 2013 season due to injury — and put the ball in the back of the net for the second time this year.

Last season, Engel was the team’s most prolific goal-scorer leading the team with six goals.

The Offense:

This season Engel should have more help at the forward position, with Craven and fellow redshirt senior Rob Lovejoy both returning from season-ending injuries.

Craven has already thrown himself into the mix offensively for UNC during their three exhibition games, scoring two goals against Gardner-Webb.

During their junior seasons in 2012, Craven and Lovejoy combined for 11 goals. Craven started 18 games and led the team with six goals and 17 points, while Lovejoy started 10 games, put away five goals and added two assists.

The addition of Craven and Lovejoy should make life easier for last year’s offensive core of Engel, forward Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler, midfielder Raby George and midfielder Omar Holness.

The Defense:

Defensively, the Tar Heels bring back an experienced core of returning players centered around ACC Defender of the Year Boyd Okwuonu in his senior season. Senior Jordan McCrary, junior Jonathan Campbell and sophomores Colton Storm and Nick Williams will all be back as well.

The five largely made up the back line in 2013 and will once again be playing in front of senior goalkeeper Brendan Moore. Last season, Moore was named to the All-ACC second team and led the conference in shutouts and save percentage while starting all 20 games.

sports@dailytarheel.com