The North Carolina men’s soccer team set the tone for its game against Georgia Southern in the first two minutes when goalkeeper Scott Goodwin soared over the Eagles to punch a shot out of the box.
Following Goodwin’s deflection, the Tar Heel defense prevented any further shots on goal for the remainder of the first half.
North Carolina ended the first half with a rapid succession of goals to take the 2-0 lead, which they held for the rest of the match.
In the 38th minute, Andy Craven scored the first goal of the night, his fourth of the season. Craven followed up on a shot by Nico Melo that bounced off the chest of Eagles keeper Neal Bates.
“I mean, I was like, I’ll take that,” Craven said. “The keeper kind of dropped it right to me, so I ran up and poked it in.”
Following their first goal of the night, the Tar Heels responded just two minutes later with another.
Sophomore forward Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler scored his first career goal, taking the Tar Heels to a 2-0 lead just before halftime.
Vandermaas-Peeler received a ball from Martin Murphy, dribbled around a defender and chipped the ball just over the goalie’s reach.
Although Vandermaas-Peeler was excited for his first goal, he said he values the team’s success more.