The North Carolina men’s soccer team has yet to find its go-to scorer, and in Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss to William & Mary, the Tar Heels paid the price.
Junior forward Tyler Engel and sophomore midfielder Raby George lead UNC this season with three goals each but neither was able to find the back of the net on their respective single shots of the night. UNC has not scored a goal in its last 200 minutes of play, dating back to George’s game-winning overtime goal against Campbell Sept. 17.
Of the seven players who scored more than one goal last year, five are no longer on the team and two — seniors Rob Lovejoy and Andy Craven — are likely out for the season with injuries.
“Somebody has to have the instinct of ‘Hey this is where the ball’s going to end up’. That’s what goal scorers do,” coach Carlos Somoano said. “They figure out where the ball is going to end up and they get there when they need to.
“Right now, having a goal scorer, somebody who has that instinct, that’s a little bit lacking for us.”
The Tar Heels’ stingy defense bought its attack some time, holding opponents scoreless for 351 consecutive minutes before Tuesday night’s goal. In the 73rd minute, the Tribe’s Jackson Eskay punched in a loose ball off of a header with UNC playing down a man because defender Boyd Okwuono had been removed from the game because of blood on his jersey.
“We had him up for what seemed like forever — it could’ve been ten seconds but it seemed like an hour,” Somoano said of his intention to sub Okwuono back in the game. “We couldn’t get the referee’s attention to wave him on.”
UNC had its chances on eight second-half shots but never seemed to connect when William & Mary was most vulnerable.
Early in the second half, when a cross found its way past Tribe goalkeeper Mac Phillips, there was no UNC player in position to provide a finish, and the ball skirted harmlessly to the other side of the field.
