The North Carolina men’s soccer team (2-0-1, 0-0 ACC) will enter its conference schedule undefeated after dominating Virginia Commonwealth (0-2-2, 0-0 A-10) 4-1 on the road Monday night.
North Carolina switched from the 4-3-3 formation it has used in previous games to a 4-4-2, with graduate forwards David Bercedo and Martin Vician as the two forwards. UNC struggled to beat VCU’s press, however, often forced to kick it long after attempting a sequence of short passes.
Vician’s aerial prowess made him the primary target for long balls, allowing UNC to get into VCU’s defensive third enough to out-shoot the Rams 11-5 in the first half.
The Tar Heels’ best two chances of the first half came from Vician headers, but both were unfulfilled. On his first attempt, Vician failed to connect with a cross from graduate midfielder Quenzi Huerman. The second came off a free kick from sophomore midfielder Sam Williams, but Vician headed the ball across the face of goal.
Early in the first half, Rams forward Camilo Comi collided with UNC graduate goalkeeper Collin Travasos, injuring both players and forcing UNC to play junior goalie Quinn Closson — his first minutes for the Tar Heels.
Returning to its 4-3-3 formation for the start of the second half, UNC scored its first goal without Vician on the pitch.
Driving into the center of the pitch, Huerman played a give-and-go with junior midfielder Juan Caffaro. Caffaro’s pass put Huerman close enough to unleash a powerful left-footed strike, which VCU goalkeeper John Ermini could only parry into the net.
Six minutes later, VCU tied the game off a free kick. A deep ball to the far post was met by the head of midfielder Moussa Ndiaye, whose shot hit the bar. Midfielder William Hitchcock followed up with his own header to make the score 1-1.
Huerman responded with a second goal. In the 61st minute Huerman shot off a curling strike, which found the bottom corner of the net to put UNC up 2-1.
