Heading into Friday night’s matchup with West Virginia, North Carolina men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano warned his team that the Mountaineers would likely play a highly physical game.
He wasn’t kidding.
The Mountaineers tallied eight fouls in the first half alone, then added seven more in the second half — along with a yellow card for good measure.
As it turned out, though, the Mountaineers weren’t the only aggressors.
“Actually, I thought in the first half we were the ones running into them,” Somoano said, chuckling after UNC’s 1-0 victory.
While the Tar Heels didn’t quite put up the same number of fouls as West Virginia — just six — they did hold a commanding lead in yellow cards, tallying three on the evening.
Clearly, UNC wasn’t intimidated by the more physically mature Mountaineers.
“It didn’t really affect our game plan,” said forward Martin Murphy, who scored the game-winning goal in the 58th minute. “We knew how we wanted to play, and we’re confident in our ability to do what we do.
“Coach told us before the game, ‘It’s gonna be physical, but just be prepared for it … If you can’t match their physicality, then don’t even go out there.’”
The Tar Heels matched it, and more importantly, they were able to grind through a rigid defensive effort by West Virginia — a team that Somoano said could certainly play its way into the NCAA tournament.
“I think this was a mental challenge,” Somoano said. “For us to have to play a very good West Virginia team and kind of battle through a game is a whole different kind of learning experience that we need. We needed to be tested like that.”
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
