The No. 20 North Carolina men’s soccer team (2-1-1) beat UNCG (1-3), 1-0, on Monday night, and have now won back-to-back games the team's second game of the season.
What happened?
This game against UNCG was UNC’s first road game of the 2019 season. Early in this match up, UNC and UNCG tested each other early. In the first six minutes of play, UNC was awarded two corner kicks, but were unable to get the ball into the net. But the North Carolina defense was able to minimize the UNCG offense.
That back-and-fourth play continued throughout the half. By the 21st minute of this contest, UNC had five corner kick attempts, but they were unable to score. By the 24th minute, UNC had one shot on goal while UNCG had zero. The North Carolina offense kept putting pressure on the UNCG defense but the team was unable to score early on.
The Tar Heels almost broke through in the 35th minute, when Mauricio Pineda shot the ball at UNCG’s Ricky Zarri, who dove on the ball before another Tar Heel had the chance to kick the ball past him.
In the first half, neither team was able to find the back of the net. In the period, North Carolina had eight shots and two shots on goal and seven corner kicks. Even though the North Carolina offense did not score, its defense limited UNCG. In the half, the Spartans had one shot and zero shots on goal.
The second half was similar to the first. The back-and-fourth battle between the Tar Heels and Spartans continued as neither team was able to score. Although with 32 minutes left in this contest, UNC out shot UNCG 9-1, the team was unable to score.
The UNCG offense did take its first shot on goal in the 63rd minute, but were unable to get the ball past a diving Alec Smir. The Spartan’s were awarded their first corner kick, but were unable to score.
The contest remained scoreless until the 68th minute, when Alex Rose scored off an assist from Pineda and Jack Skahan. With that goal, the Tar Heels took the lead, 1-0.
