Forward Jelani Pieters scored a game-winning goal in the 95th minute as the the No. 7 North Carolina men’s soccer team defeated No. 9 Virginia, 2-1, on Friday night. Pieters' goal, which came in overtime, gave the Cavaliers their first loss of the season.
What happened?
North Carolina (8-1, 3-0 ACC) came into Friday's top-10 matchup against Virginia outscoring its opponents 13-6 during a five-game winning streak. The Tar Heels looked to start their offense early with a few corner kicks early, but the Cavaliers (5-1-1, 1-1-1 ACC) stopped all scoring tries.
Both teams were locked in on defense throughout the first hal,f limiting each other’s shot attempts and committing fouls early. The teams went into halftime with the scored tied 0-0.
The scoring drought continued into the second half up until the 53rd minute, when Virginia’s Joe Bell received a pass at the top of the box and shot the ball into the top right corner for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 Cavalier lead.
The Tar Heels answered back fast and tied the game five minutes later when Alan Winn's defender backed off him and gave Winn an opening. Winn fired a bullet to the bottom right corner of the goal for the equalizer.
The defensive stalemate continued after the exchange of goals. With a few minutes remaining, the Tar Heels continued to take shots but couldn’t convert, sending the game to overtime.
UNC pushed the ball in overtime early. In the 95th minute, Pieters dribbled to his right and took a shot from outside the box. The redshirt sophomore scored and secured a top-10 win for the Tar Heels.
