UNC men's soccer team loses in ACC tournament final

Correction (November 16, 2010 12: 36 a.m.): Due to an editing error, this story incorrectly states UNC’s seeding in the ACC Tournament. UNC was seeded No. 1 in the tournament. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

CARY — It appeared that the second half of the ACC men’s soccer tournament final would play out like so many of North Carolina’s second-half triumphs that secured the program its first outright regular-season conference championship.

Despite a 1-0 halftime deficit to Maryland and a red card to All-ACC midfielder Michael Farfan, the Tar Heels dominated possession in the midfield and searched for a scoring opportunity as the opposition compacted its defense in hopes of keeping UNC off the scoreboard.

Though UNC always seemed to have one last trick up its sleeve during the regular season, the Tar Heels came up blank Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Terrapins beat UNC 1-0 and became the first team to shut out North Carolina since Akron did it in the Sept. 3 season opener.

“We went out there and believed until the last second, and today things didn’t go our way,” UNC sophomore Enzo Martinez said. “So, just unlucky.”

Tackling a compressed defense was nothing new for a Tar Heel team whose skilled midfield is particularly adept at maintaining control of the ball and putting its opponents’ backs against the wall.

When UNC’s Robbie Lovejoy intercepted an attempted clearance off the foot of Maryland’s Alex Lee with 17 minutes to play, it looked like the Tar Heels had once again found the leak they needed to sink yet another opponent.

But where Lovejoy’s breakaway against South Carolina yielded a winner earlier this season, this one brought nothing but heartbreak for the Greensboro native.

Lovejoy pushed his shot just wide of the left goalpost.

“I actually thought we played better when we were a man down today, and it didn’t surprise me at all that we got all these chances,” Lovejoy said. “It was just unfortunate that we weren’t able to get one in.”

UNC’s “unfortunate” alternate ending was caused in part by Farfan’s first-half dismissal. The Hermann Trophy hopeful is not only the Tar Heels’ foremost play-maker for his teammates but also the player most likely to create and finish an opportunity on his own.

It was his 35-yard blast that helped UNC beat the Terrapins in the teams’ regular-season meeting at Fetzer Field.

“Mike Farfan is one of the best players in the country and a player that they rely heavily for their attack,” Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said. “But I think a lot of players stepped it up for them and had some chances.”

Though UNC coach Elmar Bolowich was pleased with the chances his team was able to create in Farfan’s absence, he said the Tar Heels will have to do a better job at the beginning of games than they did in Sunday’s final, where the Terrapins scored the game’s only goal less than 14 minutes into the game.

“We didn’t come out the way we usually come out,” he said. “We were too hesitant, our speed of play wasn’t up there in the first 20, 25 minutes and I think they put us a little bit on our heels.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.