Midway through North Carolina’s penalty-kick victory Friday against Southern Methodist at Fetzer Field, the Mustangs’ Robbie Derschang went after UNC center back Drew McKinney in search of the ball. Instead, he hit a nerve.
Derschang mistimed his midfield challenge and wound up scissoring McKinney’s left leg, leaving the junior writhing in pain on the ground and inciting the partisan home crowd. From that point forward, Derschang was booed every single time he touched the ball in a game where the physicality on the field was matched only by the intensity in the stands.
“The other UNC players were like, ‘Hey, that’s okay,’” Derschang said. “I mean, it was kind of an accident, but it stirred up the crowd. I don’t know why … but it started something.”
At the time, Derschang was already well on his way to becoming the most hated man among the 1,763 fans who braved 36-degree weather to attend the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal. He had earlier created SMU’s first goal five minutes into the game when he blew past UNC right back Eddie Ababio on the wing and picked out a streaking Arthur Ivo in front of the goal.
Later, Ababio tackled Derschang to earn a yellow card, which UNC fans protested with a shower of boos aimed at the referees.
The officials called 17 fouls during the evening but could have dealt out more had they wished, often choosing to let incidental contact go unpenalized in the rough-and-tumble battle for a place in the NCAA semifinals.
Derschang showed up to the postgame press conference sporting a cut under his left eye, but couldn’t remember how it happened.
“We both know we’re fighting to get to the College Cup, so we’re going all-out,” UNC midfielder Kirk Urso said. “It’s just going to be expected that they’re going to be physical and hard.”
UNC fans rallied behind their team as they became more and more enraged with the opposition and the officials. This support reached a fever pitch during a 66th-minute injury timeout when SMU’s T.J. Nelson stayed on the ground after a challenge by Stephen McCarthy. The “Tar Heels” chant that rang out was audible several blocks from the stadium.
