Sandwiched between two wins against top-25 teams and an upcoming game against No. 5 Wake Forest, UNC wasn’t able to catch a break against the unranked Cougars. The Tar Heels spent much of the game in a heated deadlock before sophomore Alan Winn broke through for the game-winner.
The Tar Heels finally got on the scoreboard in the 34th minute, when Winn headed in a cross from sophomore Zach Wright.
The Cougars struck back in the 40th minute, as former Tar Heel and current College of Charleston junior Nico Rittmeyer headed in a goal after a free kick.
UNC scored its second goal to take the lead in the 73rd minute off of a penalty kick by senior Raby George.
Charleston wouldn’t give up, though, netting a goal in the 75th minute to tie the score at 2.
In a tense final two minutes, the Tar Heels seemed to have netted the game-winner when Winn put the ball in the back of the net off of a pass by redshirt junior Tucker Hume. But the goal was called offsides.
The game appeared set to go into overtime when, with half a minute remaining, Winn’s kick was deflected into the net by Cougar senior defender Tucker Coons for the game-winner.
The goal came off of a corner kick by junior Omar Holness, who hadn’t played for the Tar Heels since Sept. 26 against Duke due to injury.
