Pieters Slices Virginia In Overtime Thriller

Friday, September 22

Charlottesville, Va.

7:00:00 PM

North Carolina

Virginia

September 22, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Mark Kimmel

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia - Jelani Pieters scored the game winner in the 95th minute to send No. 7 North Carolina to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory at ninth-ranked Virginia on Friday night from Klöckner Stadium.

North Carolina (8-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) extended its winning streak to six games, and snapped a 21-match unbeaten streak at home for the Cavaliers, who fall to 1-1-1 in the league and 5-1-1 overall.

Carolina was the stronger side in the final 15 minutes of regulation, and proceeded to take that momentum into its first overtime match of the season. Pieters simply took the match into his own hands by racing past the Virginia defense and unleashed a rocket into the lower-right corner for his fifth goal of 2017.

UNC is 3-0-3 against the Cavaliers in extra time matches since 2009, and 7-1-3 in the last 11 head-to-head meetings.

Virginia took a brief lead in the 53rd minute with a goal from Joe Bell, his first of the season, off a feed from Pablo Aguilar.

Jelani Pieters unleashes a ??in OT for a 2-1 Tar Heel victory! pic.twitter.com/tZ69tDBPVp
— UNC Men's Soccer (@UNCmenssoccer) September 23, 2017

The Tar Heels responded with a goal of their own less than five minutes later. Winn, the leading scorer in the ACC, shook off a defender and unleashed a left-footed shot that hit a Cavalier player on its way past keeper All-ACC Jeff Caldwell in the 58th minute.

The Garland, Texas, native has scored in four-straight matches and five of the six games he's played in after missing the opening three contests due to injury.

Carolina had two more golden opportunities to win in regulation. Freshman Raul Aguilera hit the cross bar in the 78th minute, and both Winn and Pieters were stymied at the doorstep in the 87th minute by Caldwell.

In the first half, neither team came up with a shot on goal, but Carolina held a 6-2 edge in shots. The best scoring chance came in the 15th minute when Mauricio Pineda found himself wide open off a corner kick, but his header slid painfully past the right post.

Jack Skahan had a pair of quality chances in the opening 45 minutes, but both attempts slid wide of the left post in the later stages before halftime.

Carolina faces Winthrop on Tuesday at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 7 p.m.