No. 6 Carolina Falls to No. 15 UCF, 2-1

Sunday, September 1

Chapel Hill

7:30 p.m.

North Carolina

0-1-1

#15 UCF

1-1-0

UCF

UNC

September 1, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Matt Largen

Chapel Hill - The No. 6 North Carolina Tar Heels fell short to the No. 15 Central Florida Knights in a 2-1 loss on Sunday night at the UNC Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium. It was a tale of two halves for the Tar Heels, who began the second half with a 1-0 lead, but saw it dissipate to a 2-1 deficit in the closing thirty minutes in the second half of the game to start the year 0-1-1.

The first 16 minutes of action challenged both defenses, as the Knights and Tar Heels combined for six shots. Tar Heel senior Jack Skahan looked to score early with two attempts on goal in the 26th and 30th minutes, but both were denied.

Despite Skahan's narrow misses, it was junior Alex Rose who used a header for the Tar Heels' opening goal. In the 31st minute, senior Jelani Pieters crossed a beautiful ball into the box, which setup Rose's second goal of the 2019 season. The junior forward was in perfect position on the back post as he put the ball softly in the back of the net.

Down a goal, the Knights played with urgency and an aggressive mentality. Led by senior Cal Jennings, the Knights had multiple great looks on goal, but could not find the back of the net. As a cohesive unit, the Tar Heels' defense and sophomore goalkeeper Alec Smir held the Knights in check for the first 45 minutes.

After an explosive first half, the pace of the contest slowed down in the preliminary minutes of the second half. However, senior Mauricio Pineda nearly blew the top off of the stadium with a strike from midfield that hit squarely on the crossbar.

Moments later, in the 62nd minute, the Knights found its way onto the scoreboard when Gianluca Arcangeli found the back of the net for his second goal of the season off of a rebounded shot. Off a free kick, his first shot was denied by Smir but he followed up the block to tap the ball in the back of the net.

The Tar Heels nearly answered the Knights' challenge in the 76th minute after a beautiful over-the-head touch from junior Lucas Del Rosario to a streaking Skahan down the right line. Skahan's first touch put him in front of the defenders but he couldn't put the ball past the charging keeper.

Shortly thereafter, the Knights took the lead in the 78th minute after a foul on junior Matt Constant to set up the Knights free kick. On a double assist from the free kick, Cal Jennings recorded his first goal of the season from six yards out. It was a well orchestrated free kick that came straight from the training grounds as they slid the ball to the top of the box and one-touched it to the six for the easy tap in and the eventual game-winning goal.

Overall, UCF led in shot 14-13 while both teams collected six shots on goal. The biggest disparity of the night was the aggressiveness of the Knights as they recorded 23 fouls to Carolina's seven.

The Tar Heels will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7:30 when they host Harvard.