No. 19 UNC Falls At No. 4 Wake Forest, 1-0

Friday, October 18

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6 p.m.

North Carolina

7-4-2, 3-3-0

Wake Forest

12-2-0, 5-1-0

North Carolina

Wake Forest

October 18, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Overall Stats Box Score

By: T.J. Scholl

Winston-Salem, N.C. – No. 19 North Carolina (7-4-2, 3-3-0) fell to No. 4 Wake Forest, 1-0, in a tight contest on Friday night at Spry Stadium. The Tar Heels out shot the Demon Deacons 4-3 in the second half, but the 79th minute goal by Bruno Lapa proved to be the game-winner for Wake Forest.

The first 45 minutes of the matchup between the Tar Heels and the Demon Deacons was a scoreless affair as the two teams only combined for three total shots. Both teams played a similar style of soccer as they looked to possess the ball and get behind the defense.

The Demon Deacons had the best look of the first half which came in the 16^th minute. The Wake Forest forward found his way behind the defense, but Smir charged out and got a big hand to the shot to keep the game scoreless. It was a midfield battle for the next 22 minutes as neither team recorded another shot until the 38^th minute.

UNC had its best look of the first half in the 45^th minute when a cross was whipped in to a charging Jelani Pieters, but the cross was a hair too high for the charging forward.

In the second half, both sides took a little while to find its offensive legs. Alex Rose looked to put a charge in to the Tar Heel offense in the 66^th minute, but his shot was blocked by a Deacon defender as it dribbled back to the keeper. Raul Aguilera followed up with a chance of his own as he looked to give the Heels the 1-0 lead in the 67^th minute as his shot bounced past the diving keeper, but it bounced off the post and rattled away.

Aguilera's shot seemed to wake up both teams, as well as the fans, as the game opened up offensively.

Wake Forest responded with a chance of its own as they almost took the lead in the 69^th minute, but their shot rolled just wide of the post.

Both teams went back and forth over the next 10 minutes, but Wake Forest struck first and took a 1-0 lead in the 79^th minute when Bruno Lapa tucked the ball in the back of the net.

The Tar Heels pushed numbers forward over the last 10 minutes as they looked to find the equalizer, but they fell on the road.