The No. 18 North Carolina men’s soccer team (4-0-4, 1-0-3 ACC) drew, 0-0, against Pittsburgh (4-3-3, 1-1-2 ACC) Friday night, in its fourth conference match of the season.
The Tar Heels were playing without their top goalscorer, graduate midfielder Quenzi Huerman, who was suspended for one game after picking up a red card against Duke.
Early on, UNC’s pressure high up the field hampered the Panthers’ ability to build from the back. The Tar Heels forced several turnovers early on, but Pitt grew comfortable with the pressure, eventually dominating possession in the first half.
Despite Pitt controlling the ball, UNC generated double the amount of shots in the first half, out-shooting Pitt 6-3. The best chances of the first period came from graduate forwards Martin Vician and David Bercedo working together.
On one such sequence in the 11th minute, Vician received with his back to goal, turned and found a through ball to Bercedo, whose shot went wide of the far post.
In the 30th minute, Bercedo drove into the center of the field from the left wing, slipping a pass to a running Vician. Pitt goalkeeper Cabral Carter rushed out to make a block-kick save on Vician’s ensuing shot.
UNC tried several through balls from deep into Vician, but most were intercepted by the Panthers.
Early in the second half, Pitt started to cash in on its controlled possession in UNC’s defensive third. Using sophomore defender Noah Hall to dribble at UNC’s left side, Hall delivered two threatening crosses.
One cross met the head of junior midfielder Guilherme Feitosa, whose close-range header bounced off the post. UNC sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Cordes stretched his hand to stop the second cross from meeting Feitosa’s head.
