Despite a dominant first half by the No. 2 North Carolina men’s soccer team on Tuesday night, the Tar Heels entered the second half tied with the College of Charleston 1-1.
Following a UNC score off of a penalty kick, the Cougars promptly responded to tie the score at 2 in the second period.
Then, with less than 30 seconds remaining, sophomore forward Alan Winn took one final shot. The ball deflected off of a defender's knee for the game-winning goal and a 3-2 win.
“I’m not going to lie, I felt relieved,” Winn said. “In the end I was really disappointed because we could obviously do a lot better.”
After facing a score of 2-2 going into the final minute of the game following a successful penalty kick by the Tar Heels and another goal by the Cougars during the second period, it appeared the game would be going into overtime.
But scoring a goal in the final seconds isn't something new for Winn and the Tar Heels. They've now scored four times this season in the waning seconds of either half.
“I was telling myself to just stay calm and to not get frustrated because that is when you start to lose the game,” Winn said.
Even though Charleston's defense intensified during the second half, Winn kept a level head and was able to help the Tar Heels execute their halftime adjustments.
“The strategy was that we would have to work on our free kicks and throw-ins because obviously Charleston was very good at that,” Winn said.
