No. 6-seed UNC men's soccer eliminated from ACC tournament with 2-1 loss to No. 11-seed Cal

No. 6-seeded North Carolina men’s soccer (9-4-4, 4-3-1 ACC) fell to No. 11-seeded California (7-7-2, 2-4-2 ACC), 2-1, in a devastating first round defeat in the ACC tournament on Wednesday night at Dorrance Field.

The Golden Bears flipped the script from the last time these two teams met earlier this season, erasing an early deficit for a comeback win. This loss was UNC’s second straight against a team outside the top 50.

Four minutes in, the Golden Bears were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Cal’s Alfredo Ortiz knocked a curveball towards the bottom right corner of the net, but the left glove of junior goalkeeper Andrew Cordes kept it out.

Three minutes later, senior forward Luke Hille pickpocketed a Cal midfielder and stormed towards the net. After breaking into the box, his first shot was blocked, but he poked the rebound with his right leg and sent the ball off the far post and into the net for the game’s first goal.

While the Tar Heels struggled to clear the defensive zone in the 22nd minute, Cal’s Nonso Adimabua took a touch on a cross to the left side of the box, leaping into a bicycle kick that breezed wide of the left post.

Six minutes later, senior midfielder Juan Caffaro had a scoring chance with a sideline strike that whizzed off the glove of Cal goalkeeper Marco Brougher.

In the 39th minute, Ortiz had a pair of corner kicks for the Golden Bears that both flirted with the top right corner, but were both fended off by Cordes and the UNC back line.

In the final minutes of the half, the Tar Heels worked the ball around the horn with graduate forward Martin Vician planted right in front of the net, connecting on a header that Brougher dove just in time for, keeping North Carolina’s lead at one going into halftime.

Junior midfielder Sam Williams had the first prime scoring chance of the half seven minutes in, waltzing his way to the top of the box and firing a rocket that flew right above the crossbar. 

The Tar Heels had another great chance in the 59th minute with Hille dishing the ball to a driving Vician who rifled one wide of the near side of the net.

In the 64th minute, Cal’s Santiago Hopkins launched a throw-in into the box, with his teammate Malcolm Zalayet on the receiving end with a header. What looked like a routine save for Cordes broke through his fingertips and the ball trickled behind him, turning the throw-in into an unlikely game-tying goal.

Vician and Hillie were subbed out in the 72nd minute and did not return for the remainder of the game.

In the 78th minute, the Golden Bears were awarded a penalty kick after VAR determined that graduate midfielder Jameson Charles chopped at the foot of Zalayet in a defensive effort. Ortiz took the strike from the dot, and the lefty buried it to take a 2-1 lead.

UNC upped the urgency, with graduate defender Riley Thomas crashing the net on a corner but sent his rebound try high in the 82nd minute. Junior forward Lucas Ross was fed the ball in front four minutes later, but the Cal defense swept the ball away. A last-second save from Brougher sealed the upset victory for the Golden Bears.

North Carolina’s eyes now look towards the NCAA tournament, where they hope to earn an at-large bid.

@dylanstalterr

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