UNC men's soccer's Drew Murphy sends UNC to Houston with goal in the 102nd minute

There was less than nine minutes left in the second overtime of the North Carolina men’s soccer team’s NCAA quarterfinal matchup with Providence. Both teams looked dangerous, but neither could find a goal.

First-year defender Mauricio Pineda got the ball, surveyed the field and pushed it up to redshirt junior midfielder Drew Murphy.

Murphy settled, dragged the ball to the right and hoped.

“It’s all kind of a blur,” Murphy said. “It was kind of just like ‘Close my eyes and shoot.’”

The shot bounced off the hands of the Friar goalkeeper and landed in the back of the net.

Game over.

Murphy had only played in six games for ninth-seeded UNC prior to Friday, scoring in none of them. The UC-Santa Barbara transfer’s first goal in Carolina blue gave the Tar Heels (14-3-3) a 1-0 win over Providence (15-7), sending UNC to its first College Cup since 2011 and its seventh in school history.

Murphy’s lack of playing time this season stemmed from a foot injury. And it was because of injuries that he got on the field so much Friday.

Less than 20 minutes into the match, ACC Freshman of the Year Cam Lindley went down with an injury. After a quick check, it looked as though he would be fine. But he went down again a moment later.

This meant there would be extra minutes handed to fellow first-year Jack Skahan and others to fill the void of the crafty midfielder.

Murphy first stepped on the field in the 40th minute and went to work immediately. Though it wasn’t threatening, he got a shot on goal, five minutes after checking in.

“When I got the opportunity to go on, it’s ‘What can I do to win?” he said. ”‘What can I do to help the guy next to me?’”

Murphy saw more action midway through the half. Again, he came in and made an impact. Hungry for his first goal with UNC, he fired two more shots in a minute span. One was on target, but neither went in.

Chances were few and far between for each team. But as the scoreless game went on, the shots got closer.

It seemed only fitting there would be more than 90 minutes.

“Staying focused is something we talked about all year long,” Head Coach Carlos Somoano said. “That hasn’t always come to easy to us ... We’ve paid the price a couple times this year for losing our concentration, and we’ve learned from it.”

Just two minutes into extra time, star midfielder Alan Winn went down awkwardly — a non-contact injury that didn’t bode well for the junior or his teammates. Each hobbled step was a blow to the Tar Heels’ confidence.

Soon after, two of the games’ biggest chances landed at the feet of junior Zach Wright. The forward has five goals on the season, and it looked like he would have a sixth.

His first shot flew over the crossbar. The second fell victim to a fantastic save by Friar goalkeeper Colin Miller.

“You just gotta keep going,” Wright said. “Hopefully you get the next one, but if you don’t get that one you just gotta keep plugging away.”

“It’s just how the game is.”

Though the Tar Heels couldn’t catch a break in the first overtime, they regrouped for the second. Somewhat surprisingly, Murphy was on the pitch to start the final period.

Murphy didn’t wait to make an impact. Each time he graced the pitch, he got a little closer to a goal.

In the 102nd minute, the left-footed midfielder rolled the ball across his body to his right foot and powered it off the gloves of Miller and into the back of the net.

It sent North Carolina to Houston, where it will face Stanford at 8:45 p.m. on Friday.

“It’s the best moment of my life,” he said. “And we’re not done yet.”

@YonaDagalosi

sports@dailytarheel.com