CARY — When Indiana defender A.J. Palazzolo scored a header on a free kick from his teammate to give the Hoosiers the only goal of the match in the 88th minute, North Carolina senior defender Alex Comsia had a feeling of déjà vu.
The Tar Heels fell to the Hoosiers, 1-0, on Sunday, in their first home game of the season at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. UNC last played Indiana in December of 2017 in an NCAA semifinal match, where it also lost by the same score.
Neither side could find the back of the net for the majority of the game. North Carolina had 11 shots, compared to three by Indiana. The Tar Heels did a good job of denying the Hoosiers opportunities before they could put shots on frame.
“I thought we did well defensively, except for that one set piece,” Comsia said after the loss. “Ultimately it just came down to that, just like last year.”
Junior midfielder Mauricio Pineda, who attempted two shots in the contest, said that though UNC controlled the game for the majority of 90 minutes, losing focus on one Indiana possession cost the team a win.
“Set pieces, as you can probably tell everywhere in soccer now, they’re huge,” Pineda said. “We fell asleep on one, and that cost us the game.”
The Tar Heels were aggressive from the opening minutes of the match. Senior midfielder Nils Bruening and junior midfielder Jack Skahan both had shot attempts blocked in the eighth minute. Just seconds after Skahan’s initial attempt was blocked, he fired another shot on goal that was saved by Indiana’s goalkeeper.
North Carolina took six more shots in the first half alone. Junior forward Jelani Pieters, sophomore defender John Nelson, sophomore forward Giovanni Montesdeoca, Bruening and Pineda all had one or more attempts.
In the second half, the Tar Heels took two more shots, but the result was the same, just as it was in the 2017 College Cup. As the game wore on, the Hoosiers gained confidence and finally secured the game-winning goal in the 88th minute.