Men's Soccer Picks Up Win Over Wofford, 1-0

Tuesday, October 12

Chapel Hill

7 pm

North Carolina

7-4-1, 2-3-0

Wofford

3-7-1, 1-1-1

Wofford

North Carolina

Tega Ikoba

Photo by: Jerome M. Ibrahim

October 12, 2021 | Men's Soccer

Box Score FINAL STATS (.PDF)

CHAPEL HILL – Tega Ikoba scored in the first half and North Carolina maintained the lead established in the 24th minute, defeating Wofford by a 1-0 margin in men's soccer action on Tuesday night at Dorrance Field.

The win over Wofford improves North Carolina's record to 7-4-1 (2-3 ACC), while Wofford's record fell to 3-7-1.

Carolina was unranked in the national polls this week after falling to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, Wake Forest, on Friday night, 2-1.

The Tar Heels outshot Wofford, 22-5, advancing the number of shots they've taken in 2021 to 219 compared to the 54 they have allowed.

Alec Smir recorded three saves on the night and halted Wofford's scoring throughout 90 minutes. Smir's three saves led to his seventh shutout of the 2021 season.

When asked about serving as captain this season and what it means to lead this team, Smir said, "Obviously as a goalkeeper you're in the position to lead from behind the team and you always have the opportunity to lead. Now, with new guys and younger guys, I'm just trying to help them along and lead them in any way I can that helps the team."

The Tar Heels came out aggressively in the first half and recorded their first shot before the clock hit thirty seconds. Through the first 45 minutes, the Tar Heels outshot Wofford by a 13-3 margin.

North Carolina found the back of the net in the 24th minute, putting it up 1-0. Ikoba recorded his fifth goal of the season off a ball from Santiago Herrera.

Ikoba and Cameron Fisher are tied for the team-lead with five goals each through 12 games.

Head Coach Carlos Somoano spoke about Ikoba's success this season, saying, "His speed of play and intensity of play is getting better and better, and I suspect it is going to continue to get better the longer we play."

Despite multiple close opportunities from UNC throughout the game, Wofford's goalkeeper, Joshua Old, posted six saves to limit the Tar Heels' final score to one.

The Tar Heels are on the road for their next competition. Carolina will travel to Louisville for a Friday night match-up on October 15th at 7 p.m.

Notes:
• Freshman Tega Ikoba scored his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Santiago Herrera. Ikoba and Cameron Fisher are tied for the most goals on the team this season.
• UNC's all-time record against Wofford improves to 5-0-0
• All seven on UNC's wins this season have been shutouts
• Carolina defeated Wofford, 1-0, in their last meeting on September 25, 2012
• UNC is 7-4-1 this season and has out-shot its opponents by a margin of 219-54 through twelve games.
• Tar Heels in the National Polls: Carolina is unranked this week by national soccer polls.