UNC men’s soccer earns fourth straight shutout

The North Carolina soccer team continues to score goals each game, but it’s the defenders that have been carrying the Tar Heels to victory lately.

UNC knocked off its second ranked opponent of the season Tuesday and earned its fourth straight shutout with a 3-0 win against No. 20 Old Dominion.

The No. 5 Tar Heels prevented the Monarchs (4-2) from finding the back of the net and earned their fourth consecutive shutout.

UNC limited Old Dominion to just a handful of scoring chances, and goalkeeper Scott Goodwin made three saves to preserve the clean sheet. It is the first time since 2006 that the Tar Heels have recorded four straight shutouts.

“Tonight the defense was the difference in the game,” head coach Carlos Somoano said. “I thought our back four was outstanding (and) I thought Scott has been outstanding for the last four games.”

Though slow starts and early deficits have plagued UNC at times this season, the Tar Heels created their first scoring chance in the opening moments when Rob Lovejoy took a shot on goal.

It was saved, and Billy Schuler was there to follow it up but was offside.

UNC found its breakthrough in the 30th minute courtesy of senior Kirk Urso, who had just subbed into the game moments before. Off Martin Murphy’s corner, Matt Hedges teed up Urso with a headed pass and Urso fired it past the goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.

“Being that close, you just try to hit it on frame,” Urso said.

“The way I hit it, it bounced off the ground and went in.”

UNC had 26 shots in the game, of which 10 were on target.

“Our front three, they’re all getting in good spots,” Urso said.

“If we find the ball in the mid or in the back, we know we can find them and get forward.”

Though UNC scored three times in the contest, the Tar Heels might have netted more goals on several scoring chances created throughout the game if not for poor finishes and some acrobatic saves by Old Dominion goalkeeper Victor Francoz.

“You have to give (Francoz) credit. He pulled a lot of great saves, especially on the one with Martin Murphy in the first half. That’s a great save,” Martinez said. “But a lot of it fell to us too… creating those chances is no good if we can’t put them in the back of the net.”

Somoano said the team’s defensive effort more than made up for the lapses in finishing.

“I’m very proud of what we’re doing defensively right now because those are the games that your defense can carry you through and gut us out these kind of results.”

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