In the first of two matches in the Carolina Nike Classic, the No. 17 North Carolina men’s soccer team (2-0-1) defeated FIU (0-3-0) 3-1 on Thursday night at Dorrance Field.
It was graduate forward Martin Vician and senior midfielder Juan Caffaro who sparked a UNC comeback with Vician recording a brace, and Caffaro a pair of assists.
The Panthers drew first blood after 20 minutes of possession-heavy soccer. It came via a Tar Heel free kick, which FIU cleared and turned into a fast break the other way. Panther forward Michael Appiah soloed the breakaway, aided by UNC first-year defender Tate Johnson whose slide tackle attempt deflected off his teammate towards goal. This caught Tar Heel red-shirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Cordes in no-man's land, allowing Appiah to easily glide past Cordes before passing the ball into the back of the net.
“Bad luck comes when you're not in the right mindset,” head coach Carlos Somoano said. “And obviously in the first half, we were so flat.”
The Panthers held the 1-0 scoreline into halftime. The Tar Heels continued to struggle finishing in the final third, despite recording four shots on goal and winning the possession battle in the first 45 minutes.
FIU nearly found its second goal 10 minutes out of the break. A Panther through ball allowed forward Nicolas Villalobos a one-on-one with UNC’s Cordes, but the goalkeeper’s fingertip save prevented a larger hole for the Tar Heels to dig out of.
However, in a matter of moments, the game flipped on its head. In what felt like deja vu, Caffaro and Vician linked up on two consecutive possessions to score both goals in only eight seconds.
First, a corner kick delivery whipped in by Caffaro picked out the 6-foot-4 Vician who headed the cross home. Immediately after the restart, Caffaro’s press regained possession before the winger linked up again with his favorite target. With one touch, Vician outpaced the final defender and tucked the ball away in the bottom corner of FIU’s goal.
“We were practicing that a lot in training, and I think that [Vician] is a baller,” Caffaro said. “I think that he is one of the best targets we have on the team.”
