University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia Tech
No. 5 Tar Heels Top Hokies, 2-1
September 29, 2006 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 29, 2006
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Senior defender Ted Odgers broke a 1-1 tie in the 75th minute converting a penalty kick, and goalkeeper Justin Hughes notched five saves as No. 5 North Carolina recorded its second ACC win of the season over Virginia Tech Friday night at the Virginia Tech Soccer Stadium. The Tar Heels have now had a different player score the game-winning goal in each of their 10 victories.
The Hokies fired a whopping 19 shots to UNC's six, and led in corner kicks 9-2, but it was Tar Heel senior Ted Odgers who took the shot that mattered, a successful penalty kick with 16 minutes remaining after Tech goalkeeper Brendan Dunn took down an attacking Corey Ashe in the box on a race to the ball.
With the loss, Tech falls to 5-4-1 on the season with a 0-3-1 mark in ACC play, while North Carolina improves to 10-2-0 with a 2-2-0 record in the conference.
The Hokies got their goal early from sophomore Patrick Nyarko, when he received a touchdown-like pass from junior Marcus Reed, who delivered it from deep in the Virginia Tech zone. Nyarko avoided the oncoming Tar Heel keeper, senior Justin Hughes, and put it in the right side of the net for his ACC-leading eighth goal of the season in the seventh minute of play.
North Carolina did not wait long to answer, however, as they tied it up at one in the 23rd minute. Senior Ben Hunter sent a free kick from the right wing to the front of the net, where freshman Bill Dworsky was there waiting to volley in his second score of the season.
Tech had a chance to put themselves back on top before halftime with a flurry of chances around the 30-minute mark, but it was not to be after getting called for offsides twice and seeing an Eric Vickers shot carom off the crossbar to Charlie Howe, who fired a shot that was blocked by a Tar Heel defender.
The second half saw the two squads battle back and forth until the deciding 75th minute, when the Tar Heels' Ashe and Tech's Dunn went on a collision course towards the ball on the near left wing in the box. Dunn sprawled out to stab at the ball, but incidentally took down Ashe and UNC was awarded the penalty kick. Odgers converted the try for his first score of the season by nudging it into the bottom left corner of the net.
Tech wouldn't give up without a valiant effort, as a near-record crowd of 2,391 fans cheered on a plethora of Hokie attacks in the final 10 minutes. Freshman Charlie Campbell had an uncontested shot with roughly 8:30 remaining, but Hughes made diving save to his left to deny the midfielder. Junior Ben Nason throttled another shot a minute later, but Hughes denied again, this time diving to his right.
The 6:15 mark saw a near own-goal by UNC, but the Tar Heels survived four corner kicks by Tech in the final 10 minutes to preserve the win.
Hughes made five stops in the match, while Dunn saved three shots for the Hokies.
The Tar Heels will return to action Tuesday night at Fetzer Field as they host High Point at 7 p.m.
