The No. 5 UNC men’s soccer team (10-1, 4-0 ACC) recorded a 1-0 victory over triangle rival N.C. State (4-4-1, 1-3 ACC) on Friday for head coach Carlos Somoano's 100th career win.
The game got off to a slow start with little offense taking place. About 15 minutes into the first half Tar Heel midfielder Jeremy Kelly rocketed a shot on goal from outside of the penalty area, but it was saved by N.C. State goalkeeper Leon Krapf.
The next two scoring opportunities came from Tar Heel forward Alan Winn. Both of his shots came in close on the left post of the Wolfpack goal, but Krapf was able to get in the way of both shots.
As the first half was coming to an end, Winn was taken down by N.C. State defender David Norris inside of the penalty box. Norris received a yellow card, setting the Tar Heels up with a penalty kick.
Midfielder Cam Lindley stepped up to take the kick with just five minutes remaining in the first half. Lindley fired the ball toward the center of the net, and the ball evaded the reach of Krapf as the Tar Heels took a one goal lead.
Shortly after the Tar Heel goal, N.C. State assistant coach Jeff Negalha received a red card for his reaction to the penalty call on Norris.
The Tar Heels took their one goal lead into halftime after dominating much of the first half. The Tar Heels outshot the Wolfpack 7-0 and controlled the ball throughout the half.
The second half was stagnant. UNC forward Jelani Peters was unable to capitalize on two great scoring opportunities early on in the period, and little else trickled through until the last 10 minutes of the game.
Late in the second half, N.C. State made things interesting. Almost immediately after UNC goalkeeper Alec Smir’s first save of the game, N.C. State’s Julius Duchscherer fired a shot on net that Smir was barely able to tip over the crossbar for a corner kick.
