Gritty men's soccer team advances in muddy NCAA win

For a while, it looked like a bad day to be a Tar Heel.

But the No. 16 North Carolina men’s soccer team overcame a combination of steady rain, a hostile crowd and tired legs from a game three days earlier to grind out a 2-1 victory over No. 8 UNC-Charlotte in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

UNC scored in the 27th minute to take an early lead. But the 49ers stormed back, leaving the Tar Heels reeling after a shot deflected off midfielder Raby George for an own goal that tied it at 1-1 in the 53rd minute.

The energy difference between the teams was palpable as the attacking 49ers ran circles around sluggish UNC.

“It felt like there were times in the game where we were running in mud,” Coach Carlos Somoano said in the postgame press conference. He paused.

“Then I realized we were running in mud.”

Despite the conditions, UNC felt obligated to respond.

With time running out, UNC pushed the ball down the field. Forward Andy Craven, coming off a hat trick in the previous game, found the ball at the right corner of the penalty box for a shot.

The ball soared over the outstretched keeper and bounced off the crossbar with just over a minute left in regulation ­— s traight to forward Tyler Engel.

Engel, who had drawn first blood for UNC in the first half from a crazy angle, took another leap of faith.

“I had this idea of get (the ball) in the box,” he said. “Anything can happen.”

Engel took a shot from a few yards past the left post. The ball bounced a few times and someway, somehow ended up in the left corner of the net for the game-winning goal.

“That’s the sign of a very good game when you see those kinds of ebbs and flows,” Somoano said.

“Kind of glad we scored with one minute left,” he added with a laugh.

Behind the leadership of senior keeper Brendan Moore, the Tar Heels weathered 10 corner kicks from UNC-C, including nine in the second half during the peak of the 49ers onslaught.

“We just tried to stay dedicated to our roles ... especially on set pieces,” Moore said. “And we got it done.”

The game’s physicality also took a toll on UNC. Craven turned out to be prophetic when he said every team after the first round game would be out for blood. The two teams combined for six yellows and a red card, and UNC forward Rob Lovejoy had to leave the game for a bit late in the first half after a hard tackle.

But the Tar Heels continued to fight. The high-octane UNC offense kept grinding despite the mud, and the resilient UNC defense picked itself up after every slip. It wasn’t as pretty as Thursday night’s 6-0 win, but the result was the same.

“We didn’t quite have the edge to execute these plays, but we had the grit and determination just to kind of dig and find a way to get the job done,” Somoano said.

In the end, it was a good day to be a Tar Heel.

sports@dailytarheel.com