The UNC men’s soccer team (3-2, 0-1 ACC) defeated ETSU (3-2-1, 0-0-0), 1-0, breaking a two game losing streak in a Tuesday night matchup.
What happened?
After losing against Pitt without a single goal, the Tar Heels started off with an aggressive offense. While ETSU held up well against the six shot attempts in the first half, UNC kept the ball close to its net. Junior midfielder Aman Al-Qaq in particular had a great first half, attempting three shots.
While UNC's constant attacks kept East Tennessee State from attempting to score often, the defense proved to be formidable for the Tar Heels. Despite taking the lead on scoring in previous games, fifth-year midfielder Milo Garvanian didn’t have many standout moments, although he did take the lead on one of UNC’s corner kicks close to the end of the half. The score remained 0-0 at halftime, but not for a lack of trying on UNC’s part.
Six minutes into the second half, however, UNC’s aggression finally paid off. First-year Sam Williams, who minutes before had missed a shot off a corner kick, scored almost directly in the middle of the net from the edge of the box, assisted by red-shirt Junior Key White. This was Williams’ first goal at UNC and White’s first assist.
Following the goal, UNC was dealt several disputed penalties, particularly a handball call on senior midfielder Cameron Fisher. Graduate midfielder Hilli Goldhar was also given a yellow card. ETSU tried to take advantage of these mistakes, with star player Kieran Richards making a shot directly after Fisher’s foul that went over the net.
Both teams found calls controversial, as ETSU’s Tarik Pannholzer challenged the lack of a foul call for Til Zinnhardt after he fell, and the team looked visibly upset when it was ruled not a foul.
Al-Qaq attempted one more goal before the end of the game with a bicycle kick in the penalty box that was ruled an offside, but elicited shouts from the audience.
