Quarterfinal woes continue for UNC men's soccer in loss to Louisville

It was all too familiar.

Heading into the final 15 minutes of its match against Louisville Sunday, the North Carolina men’s soccer team looked poised to move into the ACC Championship semifinals and extend its unbeaten streak to a nation’s best nine games.

After a scoreless first half against the sixth-seeded Cardinals, 3-seed UNC came out in the second half determined to claim the lead.

But late in the game, a feeling of deja vu began to fill the air at Fetzer Field. And much like it did in the Tar Heels’ 2-1 ACC quarterfinals defeat against Clemson in 2013, the game slipped away, and UNC found itself on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss.

In the 76th minute, the Cardinals’ Ricardo Velazco intercepted a wary pass from the UNC defense and streaked down the middle of the field.

As Velazco continued his run toward the UNC box, Tar Heel defenders Walker Hume and Boyd Okwuonu charged forward but in the process left a space for Ivan Gutierrez to slip in behind.

After Velazco’s right-footed pass traveled between the outstretched legs of Hume and Okwuonu, Gutierrez found himself alone with goalkeeper Brendan Moore and calmly converted to give Louisville a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.

“It was self-inflicted,” said Okwuonu when asked about the pivotal counterattack that lifted the Cardinals.

“It was just one step up, and it was a minor mistake,” he said. “But one mistake can cost you the game.”

In 2013, defensive miscues sunk the Tar Heels in their quarterfinal matchup against Clemson, as the Tigers converted twice in the game’s final 15 minutes to break UNC’s heart.

Sunday, another blunder overshadowed 75 minutes of strong defensive play, and the same feelings returned.

“They had some balls in behind us, but we dealt with them, and we didn’t really allow them to do anything dangerous,” Moore said. “But you can’t do that for 90 minutes straight, and we lost again because of it.”

The similarities don’t stop there.

Senior Andy Craven didn’t play in the 2013 game against Clemson after suffering a season-ending injury. Sunday, Craven might as well have not been playing, as the Cardinal defenders held the star senior to just one shot.

And much like in 2013, Coach Carlos Somoano was noticeably upset after a Tar Heel loss. But, as Somoano said after the game Sunday, this wasn’t something that was exclusive to the games against Clemson and Louisville.

“I’m frustrated that we didn’t win today,” he said. “I’m frustrated that we didn’t beat Duke, Notre Dame and Wilmington. I’m frustrated we didn’t beat UCLA, and next time we lose a game I’ll be frustrated too.”

“I don’t like losing, and I don’t think our guys do either.”

sports@dailytarheel.com