Men’s soccer loses after 16-game streak

Last season, James Madison grabbed an early 1-0 lead against North Carolina before the Tar Heels equalized on their way to a 4-1 victory.

Tuesday night, there would be no comeback for UNC.

No. 1 UNC (4-1-0) dropped its first game of the season 1-0 to the unranked Dukes (2-2-1) in Harrisonburg, Va.

The game broke a school-record 16-game streak without a loss.

Near the end of the first half, James Madison sent a free kick into the box, and sophomore defender Jordan McCrary was whistled for shoving a JMU player, leading to a penalty kick.

“I think it was an unusual call is maybe the best way to describe it, but at the same time I think the most important thing for us is that we didn’t play well at all,” coach Carlos Somoano said.

“Regardless of a bad call, if there was a bad call, we’ve got to take responsibility for a poor performance.”

JMU UNC

“I thought I had a good read on him. I turned one way, and he just didn’t go that way,” Goodwin said.

“That’s just the way PKs go sometimes. I gave it my best effort. I chose my side and went hard for it and just chose the wrong side.”

“Had we gone into halftime, I think we would have regrouped and had a pretty good second half and had a good chance to turn it around,” Somoano said.

“But going in a goal down kind of put us behind the eight ball a little bit, and I think we struggled to get back into it.”

The Dukes opened the game aggressively against the Tar Heels, and Somoano said the team’s failure to respond gave JMU an edge.

“We kind of backed up instead of going back toe-to-toe with them,” Somoano said.

JMU had nine shots to UNC’s seven, and the Tar Heels could not convert on eight corner tries.

The Tar Heels failed to mount a successful challenge in the final minute as the Dukes intercepted several passes and largely kept the ball in their attacking end.

Redshirt senior captain Jordan Gafa said the Tar Heels were frequently out of position, and he blamed UNC’s leaders for not rallying the team.

Gafa said the team didn’t get down on itself when it trailed at halftime.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.