The UNC men’s soccer team’s 2021 season came to an end Sunday afternoon, as the No. 16 overall seed New Hampshire Wildcats sent Carolina home with a 4-1 defeat in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

All five goals in the match came in the first 45 minutes, with New Hampshire getting on the board first before Carolina’s Tim Schels netted an equalizer. But the Wildcats promptly scored three goals in the span of eight minutes to bury the Tar Heels under an insurmountable deficit. The four goals are tied for the most UNC has given up this season.

Goalkeeper Alec Smir made three saves in his last appearance as a Tar Heel.

UNC ends the season with an 11-7-2 record, though head coach Carlos Somoano’s group won five of their last seven matches. The Wildcats are now 17-1-2 and move on to the tournament’s Round of 16.

“Overall, I’m proud of the team,” said UNC’s fifth-year forward Santiago Herrera, playing in his last match with the program. “We always believed. No matter what.”

 

Featured image via Portsmouth Herald/Al Pike

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