A pair of first-half goals gave the UNC men’s soccer team a commanding lead over defending national champions Syracuse in the ACC Tournament semifinals Wednesday night, and the Tar Heels would hold that lead in a 3-1 win. It’s the 800th win in program history.

It’s Carolina’s second consecutive road win in the tournament, and sends the team to its first ACC championship since 2018. UNC hasn’t won the ACC Tournament since 2011.

Martin Vician got the scoring started in the seventh minute, as he and first team All-ACC honoree Quenzi Huerman pounced on a Syracuse mistake in front of their own goal. Huerman dispossessed an Orange player before feeding the ball to Vician, who slotted it calmly into the bottom corner of the net.

Despite consistent pressure from Syracuse, Carolina withstood the Orange surge and added a second goal to the lead in the 37th minute, as junior forward Daniel Kutsch got behind the defense on a break and slid a shot past the Syracuse keeper.

Syracuse got a goal back just 10 minutes into the second half and appeared to seize momentum, but a red card against the Orange’s Jeorgio Kocevski reduced the hosts to 10 men for the remainder of the night. Vician would take advantage 12 minutes later, scoring his second goal on the night on a break opportunity to restore the two-goal advantage. Syracuse would only get one shot on goal for the rest of the match.

UNC keeper Andrew Cordes once again stood tall in net, making a career-high eight saves to keep Carolina in front. He now has made 14 combined saves in the last two matches.

Carolina will return to its home state for the ACC championship on Sunday, which will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary at noon. UNC will face either Louisville or Clemson, and the match will be broadcast on ESPNU.

 

Featured image via UNC Men’s Soccer on Twitter

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