Andy Craven goes with his flow

At first glance, Andy Craven doesn't look much like a soccer player.

But don’t let the scraggly beard and stringy brown hair cascading behind him fool you. Craven is one of the best players in college soccer.

When kickoff rolls around, the flowing hair goes up into a neat bun, and it’s all business for the North Carolina forward.

“It’d be too much for everyone if I let it flow,” Craven says.

Clearly he’s joking, because his flow has been too much for opponents this season, bun or not.

Craven’s 11 goals lead the ACC and are tied for second most in the country. Tuesday night against Georgia Southern, Craven recorded his first career hat trick in the No. 6 Tar Heels' 6-2 win.

His goals were a mix of the opportunistic, banging home a shot another teammate had sent off the crossbar, and the technical, jumping into the air to delicately touch a pass enough to alter its course past the keeper.

“We played well, scored a bunch of goals, so that’s good,” Craven said with a shrug after the game.

He’s a man of few words. When asked to describe his playing style, he responds monosyllabically.

“Fast,” he says.

Speed is Craven’s trademark asset. He likes to run fast and get the ball moving fast, a perfect fit in Coach Carlos Somoano’s fast-paced UNC offense, where as central forward, he literally spearheads the Tar Heels offensive attack.

The course he’s run to this point hasn’t been steady, but long and winding instead.

Craven grew up in the island town of St. Simons Island, Ga., with the beach five minutes in any direction. He spent a significant chunk of his youth over 300 miles away in Bradenton, Fla., with the U-17 national team in its residence program.

The fond memories Craven holds for his home are clear as he talks about skin boarding and windsurfing. When it came time to leave home again for college, homesickness had already set in.

“I wanted to go to the best team that I could that was as close to home as possible,” Craven said.

Craven chose to attend the College of Charleston and immediately made an impact. He scored four goals and was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, then scored six goals in eight games the following season before being injured.

Following the season, Craven transferred to UNC, seeking to gain more from his soccer experience and find a better medical staff. He found both; calling the staff at UNC the greatest he’s ever had and leading the team in scoring his junior season.

Yet injuries continued to hamper Craven. He lost the entire 2013 season to a foot injury that required surgery.

But that didn’t mess up his flow.

“You just keep going,” Craven said.

Given a fifth season after a redshirt year, Craven has taken the opportunity and run with it. Craven has been put in a fan vote with four other players for the last spot on the semifinal ballot for the Hermann Trophy — college soccer’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.

“(I was) just taken away,” Craven said. “There’s a lot of good players out there, and I feel really honored to just be considered.”

No UNC player has ever won the Hermann Trophy, and Craven faces an uphill battle. It would be a fitting end to the career Craven has made at UNC.

But with one game left in the regular season, plus postseason play, Craven still has some running to do.

“Before we start reflecting back, I think we’re going to keep looking forward,” Somoano said.

“He’s not done yet.” 

sports@dailytarheel.com