It may have been and up-and-down season for the UNC men’s soccer team, but the Tar Heels still drew their fair share of accolades from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The annual All-ACC teams, announced Wednesday morning, featured five Carolina players.

Graduate goalkeeper Alec Smir, playing in his last season under head coach Carlos Somoano, was named to the first team. Smir, also a team captain, kept nine clean sheets for the Tar Heels this season and started every match. He was also named ACC Defensive Player of the Week in late October.

Midfielder Joe Pickering and defender Filippo Zattarin, also graduate students, featured on the third team. While they didn’t stuff the stat sheet, both Pickering and Zattarin showcased remarkable durability for the Tar Heels all season long, as each started every game.

Two Tar Heel forwards earned spots on the conference’s All-Freshman team: Ken Bellini and Tega Ikoba. Ikoba, who began the season as a substitute, eventually earned a starting role due to his scoring ability. He ended the regular season as UNC’s leading scorer with six goals. Bellini and Ikoba both scored in UNC’s regular season finale victory over Notre Dame. Bellini also started nine matches for Somoano.

UNC, currently ranked No. 20 in the NCAA’s RPI metric and No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, will learn of its postseason fate when the NCAA Tournament bracket is released on Monday, November 14 at 1 p.m.

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