The fans who came to see UNC face North Florida in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament at Dorrance Field certainly got their money’s worth. The Tar Heels advanced past the Ospreys in a thriller Thursday night, winning 6-5 on a penalty shootout after the match ended 2-2.

The underdog Ospreys drew first blood off the foot of former Tar Heel Luc Granitur, who opened the scoring in the 42nd minute just moments after North Florida had a goal called back for offsides. The Ospreys thought they had doubled the lead in the second half after a botched clearance by the UNC defense crept over the goal line, but officials nullified the goal due to a North Florida foul.

With the score still just 1-0 in favor of the visitors, UNC finally equalized in the 70th minute on a Jack Sandmeyer overhead kick from close range.

Carolina continued to apply pressure in the waning minutes and appeared to clinch a comeback win off a Dan Klink header in the 88th minute to give the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead. But the Ospreys still had fight left in them, waiting until quite literally the last second of the 90 minutes of regulation time to score an improbable equalizer. Granitur struck again after corralling an attempted clearance and booming it in off the crossbar to give North Florida a lifeline.

In sudden-victory extra time, UNC attempted three shots in the opening 10-minute period but none in the second. The Tar Heel defense limited the Ospreys attack as well, and the match would finish in a penalty shootout. It was the second straight year Carolina found itself in a shootout in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after losing to Furman last season. It looked like history might repeat itself when Gabriel Bracken Serra missed the Tar Heels’ sixth penalty after both teams had made their first five. But this time, UNC goalkeeper Andrew Cordes saved the season with a save on what would have been the winning penalty kick for North Florida. The shootout continued.

Luis Vera made no mistake on Carolina’s next kick, meaning North Florida now had to make its next penalty. Kaiss Mansouri stepped up and banged his kick off the crossbar and out, ending the shootout and sending the Tar Heels through to the next round.

UNC is now 12-11 all-time in penalty shootouts. Thursday’s win moves Carolina to 10-5-4 overall on the season, and the Tar Heels will advance to face No. 4 overall seed Maryland in the tournament’s second round Sunday at 1 p.m. in College Park.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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