After perhaps their best performance of the season last Monday at Davidson, the No. 4 UNC men’s soccer team came back with what is without a doubt their worst on Friday night, a 4-0 road defeat at No. 15 Pittsburgh.

The Panthers, ranked No. 3 in preseason polls, had fallen in recent weeks due to two early losses. But they responded with sound and fury, handing Carolina its first loss of the season in resounding fashion.

The Tar Heels found themselves down two goals inside 20 minutes, before the Panthers added a third in the 36th minute. The half, mercifully, ended with Carolina staring at a 3-0 deficit.

Pittsburgh refused to let head coach Carlos Somoano’s team mount any comebacks, putting home a fourth goal for good measure just over two minutes into the second half. Carolina actually outshot Pittsburgh 16-8, but it hardly mattered in the end. The Panthers are unbeaten in their last 13 matches at home.

This is the UNC men’s soccer team’s first loss by multiple goals since September 26, 2014, when they lost 2-0 against Notre Dame. It’s their first loss by more than two goals since September 3, 2010, when they fell 3-0 to Akron.

Carolina will attempt to get the bad taste of the Steel City out of their mouths when they return home on Tuesday, September 14 against Campbell.

 

Featured image via Pittsburgh Athletics

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