Cary - As the North Carolina men's soccer team shuffled towards the locker room Sunday night, the only sounds were the crunches of cleats on concrete and the distant noises of James Madison’s celebrations.
The ACC runner-up Tar Heels (14-4-1, 6-1-0 ACC) had their season ended prematurely as the James Madison Dukes bested the No. 5 seed Tar Heels, 2-1, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
UNC walked off the field stunned.
What happened?
James Madison (14-4-3, 6-2-0 CAA) struck quickly as junior midfielder Manuel Ferriol fired a cannon into the back of the net at the 27 minute mark to give the Dukes an early lead. But the Tar Heels responded less than five minutes later. Senior Nils Bruening sent a pass to a crowd gathered outside the goal, and forward Giovanni Montedeosca emerged to knock it in and tie the game at 1-1. It was the last assist of Bruening’s accomplished career as a Tar Heel.
The next thirty minutes of the game showcased the defensive talent of both teams. UNC and James Madison both rank in the top five of goals allowed per game, and the teams went back and forth trading possessions and coming up with defensive stops.
When was it decided?
In the 68th minute, disaster struck for the Tar Heels. James Madison senior Aaron Ward-Baptiste found separation from his defender and put a shot on the ground that slipped right under Tar Heel goalkeeper James Pyle to put the Dukes up 2-1.
Here, the Tar Heels found themselves in uncharted territory. UNC had not allowed an opponent to score more than one goal all season. They had only played from behind in four games all season long, dropping three of four to their opponents. The slight sense of panic and uncertainty was tangible.
