North Carolina men's soccer victory secures No. 1 ranking in ACC

After spending almost an hour combined in overtime thus far this season, the No. 4 North Carolina men’s soccer team seems to have finally found a relaxing rhythm in the high-stress periods.

Only two minutes into the first overtime of Friday night’s home match against N.C. State, senior Billy Schuler sent one into the back of the net, clutching the Tar Heels’ second overtime victory of the season and launching the team to the No. 1 spot in the ACC.

Schuler, a redshirt junior forward, is tied for 16th in the NCAA’s top 25 goal-scorers nationwide, so it is only fitting for him to have recorded the game-winner at Fetzer Field.

Friday night’s golden goal notched Schuler’s 12th of the year and propelled North Carolina to 13-2-2 (4-1-2 ACC) with the 2-1 win.

Despite all of Schuler’s goals this season, Friday’s marked his first game-winner in overtime. But who scored didn’t matter to Schuler. He said he just wanted the goal to come sooner rather than later.

“I think (scoring quickly) goes through our mind,” he said. “We’ve played a few overtime games. And the 10 minute half, instead of the 15 minute half in the professional league, goes by so fast.

“So I think it goes through my mind. I think it goes through all of our minds. We don’t want to waste time in overtime. We want to try to get it done as soon as possible.”

North Carolina claimed the first goal of the game in the 32nd minute, as senior defender Matt Hedges, who transferred from Butler for his last season of eligibility, tapped in a pass from Robby Lovejoy with his back heel from five yards out.

The Tar Heels entered halftime with a slight 1-0 lead against the Wolfpack, but the advantage didn’t last throughout regulation.

In the 75th minute, Nader Jaibat launched a bullet past UNC goalkeeper Scott Goodwin to put N.C. State on the board.

But the numbers weren’t on N.C. State’s side. The Wolfpack entered the matchup ranked 110th in the nation in goals allowed.

The Tar Heels were counting on that statistic as regulation ended and sent the teams into their fifth and seventh overtime games, respectively.

“I think going into overtime is kind of a mental state,” coach Carlos Somoano said.

“You get a little break to refocus and reset your mind. And being able to pull games out in overtime is for me, 90 percent mental. It’s being able to concentrate and not panic.”

In North Carolina’s experience with overtime earlier this season, the Tar Heels could not rise above their mental game.

Friday’s victory marked only the second overtime win for UNC in five chances, but Somoano isn’t worried.

“Early in the season, in the Virginia Tech game in overtime, we got a little tight, because we thought ‘Oh gosh, we should be winning this game. Why aren’t we winning?’ and we panicked,” Somoano said.

“We learned that lesson. I think when we go into overtime now, we’re a lot more calm and confident in what we’re doing. Now we’re just comfortable.”

That confidence manifested itself in Schuler, as he shot in a through ball from senior Kirk Urso to beat the Wolfpack’s keeper and move UNC’s unbeaten streak to six in conference play.

Hedges, too, had faith in North Carolina’s ability to score the golden goal when the team was called upon to do so.

“If we don’t find a goal in regular time, we know we’ll find one in overtime,” Hedges said. “It’s that simple.”

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