UNC men’s soccer team downs Davidson in rain-delayed game

The No. 5 North Carolina men’s soccer team continued its preseason success, beating Davidson 5-4 on Wednesday night at Fetzer Field.

The game seemed to be over early, but the Wildcats fought back after a weather delay.

It only took UNC 13 minutes to put the ball into the net, when sophomore forward Zach Wright passed a ball into the box and sophomore defender David October converted the scoring chance.

Minutes later, the Tar Heels put another ball past the Davidson keeper when senior midfielder Nico Melo’s shot was deflected and then put into the back of the net by senior midfielder Raby George.

George struck again with 26 minutes left in the first half on a penalty kick. The senior tucked the ball neatly into the bottom left corner of the net without any effort from the Wildcats’ keeper.

Wright put the Tar Heels up 4-0 in the 37th minute when he intercepted a poor pass from a Davidson player and kicked the ball into the back of the net.

After a long delay due to heavy rain and lightning, Davidson’s Valeriy Sviderskiy put two goals in the net for the Wildcats to cut the score to 4-2.

The Wildcats then scored two more goals to come back and tie the game at 4.

With less than 16 minutes to go, redshirt freshman midfielder Andy Lopez scored to give UNC a 5-4 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Quotable

“Davidson had some pride and said, ‘You know what, we want to respond.’ I think the guys lost a little bit of respect for the game and the process at that time. Instead of going out in the second half and playing as hard as they can, they went out and were playing to score.” 
— men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano

Notable

Junior goalkeeper Sam Euler started for the Tar Heels on Wednesday. Euler has been splitting time all preseason with redshirt freshman James Pyle.

With 11:51 left in the first half, Omar Holness entered the match, his first showing back with the Tar Heels for the 2015 season. Holness spent the summer representing the Jamaican national team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

3 numbers that matter

1,245: Number of miles Omar Holness traveled from his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, to play in this game.

10: The number Zach Wright wears on his back, which is also the number he inherited from former Tar Heel forward Andy Craven. Craven graduated in May. Wright had one goal and one assist in the game.

73: Minutes the scrimmage was delayed due to inclement weather.

What’s next?

The Tar Heels will face off against Coastal Carolina on Saturday in Conway, S.C. This will be the team’s final exhibition of the preseason before opening up the regular season Aug. 28 against Florida International.

@Evan_Chronissports@dailytarheel.com