To spur the No. 3 North Carolina men’s soccer team’s victory against No. 5 Maryland on Friday, senior Michael Farfan turned to the unexpected.
From 35 yards out, Farfan sent an unassisted shot rocketing toward the left side of the goal past Maryland’s keeper to give UNC a 1-0 lead just shy of 10 minutes into the game.
Forty-two minutes later, UNC (5-1, 3-0 ACC) turned to Farfan once more to lead the Tar Heels to a 2-1 victory against the Terrapins (4-2-1, 1-1-1).
The All-ACC midfielder sent a penalty kick straight into the back of the net after a Maryland handball to earn his second goal of the season and the night.
Rather than bending the ball over the keeper’s head just under crossbar — Farfan’s bread and butter until the matchup against Maryland — the senior confidently drew from an expanded repertoire in North Carolina’s win.
“He really took a power shot and really lined it up pretty well,” UNC coach Elmar Bolowich said. “I like that because that gives him another dimension in terms of his shooting, and he had the presence of mind to just rip it. (The first shot) really was a beautiful goal.”
But Maryland wasn’t ready to give up its first loss to North Carolina since 2003 without a furious offensive push that began with 15 minutes left on the clock.
A controversial handball called on UNC’s Stephen McCarthy put the Terrapins on the scoreboard as Matt Kassel earned his third goal of the season, sending his penalty kick to the right of goalie Scott Goodwin.
Maryland continued to rally in the last minutes of the game in attempts to nab overtime with a last-second score, earning its first corner kick of the game with less than 30 seconds to go.