In the regular season finale at No. 10 Boston College, the North Carolina men’s soccer team clinched the regular season ACC championship with a 2-0 victory.
“It’s very exciting. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” coach Carlos Somoano said. “We’re definitely excited tonight, but tomorrow, we’re looking forward.”
The Eagles have an interesting home-field advantage at the Newton Campus Soccer Field, because the field itself is artificial turf, so the speed of play is quicker. Wednesday night, it was not only fast, but cold and slippery.
“I thought we played very well,” Somoano said. “It’s a tough adjustment to come to B.C. and play on a very fast turf field so it took us a little while to get adjusted to the speed of the turf – it was slick and wet.”
“But in the second half, I felt like once we got used to it, we made two great plays, made two great goals and defended very well.”
The game was knotted in a scoreless tie after the first 45 minutes. The Tar Heels held a 4-2 shot advantage at the break and kept Boston College from getting a shot on frame until the second half.
UNC goalkeeper Scott Goodwin made his first save of the contest in the 53rd minute when Diego Medina-Mendez recorded the Eagle’s first shot on goal.
In the second half, junior Matt Hedges gave the Tar Heels the 1-0 lead in the 61st minute with a deflection of a free kick taken by Enzo Martinez. The free kick was a result of a handball right outside the box.
“We served it in there, Matt Hedges got in front of his defender (and it) just kind of skipped off his head,” Somoano said. “It was too fast for the goalkeeper to even respond – it just skimmed right in.”
