Goals from UNC’s Ryan Zellefrow and Luca Nikolai helped the Tar Heels play to a 2-2 draw against No. 1 Stanford at Dorrance Field Friday night.

Zellefrow’s goal in the 13th minute was Carolina’s first shot of the night. It came against the run of play, as Stanford had manufactured the first two chances of the night. Stanford keeper Alan Rutkowski saved both before Zellefrow found himself in front of a gaping goal mouth after a deflected shot. He made no mistake, sending the ball down off the crossbar and into the net.

The Tar Heels nearly doubled the advantage less than a minute later on a shot by Bertil Rygaard Hansen which was saved by Stanford keeper Rowan Schnebly. The Cardinal equalized in the 37th minute, and the two teams went into halftime even both on the scoreboard and in total shots (5-5).

UNC took the lead back after barely five minutes played in the second half after Rygaard Hansen drew a penalty. Nikolai stepped to the spot and converted to put the Tar Heels ahead 2-1, but that lead lasted less than two minutes. The Cardinal drew their own penalty in the 53rd minute, and Jack Pymm scored it to bring Stanford level again.

Both teams created chances after that, with Nikolai and Zellefrow making bids for braces that were saved by Schnebly. Rutkowski made a save of his own in the 68th minute, denying Stanford’s Logan Tsopanoglou a second goal. Despite that back-and-forth action, no team had a shot on target in the final 12 minutes.

With the 2-2 tie, UNC has now drawn each of its first two ACC matches. The Tar Heels will be back in action Tuesday when they host American at Dorrance Field at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Dalton Wainscott

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