CARY — On Saturday night, the North Carolina men's soccer team made history and got one step closer to claiming the ultimate prize.
The Tar Heels (17-3-1) edged a scrappy Fordham squad, 2-1, to advance to the program’s second straight College Cup. It was a hard-fought match, but UNC’s attacking strength proved too much for the Rams (14-6-3), who had notched the program’s first three NCAA Tournament wins to reach the Elite Eight.
“Fordham is a heck of a good team," North Carolina head coach Carlos Somoano said. “Some people like to make it out that they’re a good story to be here. They’re more than a good story, they’re a good team, and they deserved to be here tonight.”
The win propelled UNC into the NCAA semifinal for a record sixth time in the last ten years and gave the program its 23rd NCAA Tournament win during that span — also a nation-best accomplishment. Somoano was nostalgic in addressing how far senior forwards Zach Wright and Alan Winn have come to lead this team back to the College Cup.
“I couldn’t be happier to be sitting with these two guys right now," Somoano said with a hint of a smile. “It seems like just yesterday they showed up and we were talking about some funny stuff four years ago, and they’ve just grown so much. I’m proud to see the way they played tonight to get us back to the College Cup”.
It was a hectic first half, even though neither team scored. In the 22nd minute, sophomore midfielder and MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist Cam Lindley found himself with a wide-open shot on goal. With a chance to give his team the lead, Lindley blasted the ball over the crossbar.
Later in the first half, the Rams almost scored the game’s first goal. A well-directed 26th-minute corner kick bounced into the middle of the box. Time seemed to stop as players watched the ball, before redshirt junior goalkeeper James Pyle dove on it like a live grenade.
For the third consecutive game, the Tar Heels got hot in the second half after starting off slowly in the opening frame.
“We started off slow, but we know what we had to do to change things in the second half to pick it up," Wright said.