Freshman Mikey Lopez earns starting spot on UNC men's soccer team

In the waning moments of North Carolina’s 5-1 demolition of Oregon State on Friday, freshman Mikey Lopez stole the show.

From straight away just outside the box, the 5-foot-9-inch midfielder connected on a rocket toward the goal. The shot deflected off the leg of a Beaver defender and bounced up in to the air.

Lopez stood and watched.

“I thought it was going to go over,” Lopez said. “I saw the keeper looking up at it, start backtracking and he jumped, and I just saw the ball drop in.”

By the time the ball came back down, it found the netting behind OSU goalie Steve Spangler, and Lopez scored his first career goal.
“Even if he didn’t score a goal, he impacted the game so much,” coach Carlos Somoano said. “He’s a wonderful addition to our squad.

More than anything, I’m glad he got a statistical reward for what he did. He was outstanding today.”

Aside from the goal, Lopez played well enough in his role off the bench Friday night to earn his first start in Sunday’s match against top-ranked Louisville. Making a debut start against a No. 1 team might seem daunting, but that’s just what Lopez wanted.

He said after the Oregon State game that he hoped he played well enough to work his way into to the starting eleven.

Somoano believed that he did.

Somoano said he is still moving things around on the lineup card — a job made more difficult by the fact that the Tar Heels have eight players starting this season that did not start last year.

“We’re trying to get the right chemistry so coordination is right, and we have proper understanding,” Somoano said. “We have a lot of very good players, and we’re just trying to find the right fit in positions.”

It is most obvious in the back line, as none of the four players who were defensive starters in last season’s College Cup loss to Louisville were playing Sunday.

Though listed as a midfielder, Lopez plays all over the field. About six minutes into the Louisville game, Lopez was caught getting a little too rough around midfield, and the referee called a foul. After the call, Lopez seemed to settle down and play with a more controlled aggression.

“It took a while (to get settled) with all the nerves, it being the one versus two game,” Lopez said. “But once those were gone it smoothed out from there.”

A few minutes after the foul call, Lopez collected a ball just on the other side of midfield and was leapfrogged by a Cardinal before he could make the turn. Lopez ducked and waited for the Louisville player to hit the ground before turning on the jets and getting the ball in the box. The drive dissolved, but Lopez was starting to look comfortable in his new role.

And that comfort level continued as he played all 90 minutes Sunday.
“Mikey’s a great player and we’re glad to have him,” senior Kirk Urso said. “That’s why Carlos and the coaches recruit. Just because he’s a freshman doesn’t mean anything … He fights hard in there, and we’re glad to have him on our team.”

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