North Carolina
Notre Dame
No. 3 Heels Drop 2-0 Match at No. 1 Notre Dame
September 27, 2014 | Men's Soccer
The first 20 minutes of the match saw both defensive minded teams feeling each other out with few scoring chances coming on both ends of the field.
However, as time went on in the opening half Carolina began to take hold of possession for long stretches. And with that came a handful of opportunities for the visiting Tar Heels.
The best chance came in the 22nd minute when the first corner of the match, taken by Carolina midfielder Omar Holness, found Walker Hume and his header whistled wide as a good portion of the goal was left open by the Fighting Irish defense.
Unable to capitalize on its efforts came back to bite the Tar Heels when Notre Dame scored on its first shot of the match in the 37th minute to take the 1-0 advantage. Jeff Farina banged home a cross by Jon Gallagher for his first collegiate goal.
Alex Olofson bid for the equalizer in the final moments of the half, but his blast from over 30 yards was stopped by ND keeper Patrick Wall, one of his season-high six saves on the evening.
North Carolina remained one shot away from tying up the match, but Notre Dame found a second goal in the 71st minute by Leon Brown to take firm control of the match.
In the 80th minute, UNC was awarded a penalty kick by Holness, but his shot sailed high and the Tar Heels remained down 2-0 in the late stages.
UNC held a 12-7 shot advantage in the match, and a 9-2 lead in corner kicks.
Carolina finishes up its long road stretch at UNC Wilmington on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
