UNC men’s soccer rebounds against JMU

Against James Madison, it took the No. 8 North Carolina men’s soccer team almost an entire half to drop its hangover from last weekend’s loss to Virginia Tech.

Through the opening 18 minutes of Tuesday’s 4-1 win, North Carolina had no shots on goal to James Madison’s three. And the Tar Heels’ luck didn’t appear to be changing when junior midfielder Enzo Martinez went down after being kicked in the ankle.

“They were playing really physical,” Martinez said. “With teams like that you have to outsmart them, you can’t get in that rhythm of kicking like them. But it hurt pretty bad.”

Martinez was able to stay in for the rest of the half, but wasn’t able to change UNC’s fortunes.

Not immediately at least.

James Madison dominated the match’s first 30 minutes, outshooting UNC five to one and sneaking a goal past UNC keeper Scott Goodwin in the 28th minute.

“I think you have to credit James Madison for their play,” assistant coach Jeff Negalha said. “I think we were pretty much on our back foot for the most part.”

The Tar Heels finally seemed to find their stride after allowing the goal. During the half’s final 17 minutes, UNC allowed the Dukes only one shot and tallied a goal of its own off the right foot of Martinez in the 38th minute.

After a Tar Heel corner kick was headed out of the box by a JMU defender, Martinez found the ball at his feet from 25 yards out and drilled a shot past Dukes goalie Justin Epperson.

Despite the goal from Martinez, UNC knew it had some work to do.

“We knew it wasn’t our best half,” senior Kirk Urso said. “We were just a little slow and weren’t connecting well.”

UNC head coach Carlos Somoano ensured the fans in Chapel Hill would see a different team in the second half.

UNC

And on that goal, Martinez and Schuler’s roles were reversed. Martinez has assisted three of Schuler’s five goals of the season, including his goal earlier in the game. But Schuler was able to return the favor in the 85th minute against James Madison.

Martinez played Schuler in the box on a would-be give-and-go, but Schuler got caught between two Dukes. Schuler was able to slide through the defense and dump the ball back to Martinez. From there, the goal was a sure thing.

“We talked about it before the game, about me and him combining,” Martinez said. “I feel like it’s a great combination between us, we understand each other. He was like, ‘Finally I was able to put you through this time.’”

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