The UNC men’s soccer team made easy work of Virginia Tech in the opening round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday night, beating the Hokies 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Though the Tar Heels won the match handily, they started in the worst way possible, falling behind after just 1:44. But it was all Carolina from then on out, as Quenzi Huerman equalized in the 29th minute and Ernest Bawa put the Tar Heels ahead just 91 seconds before the halftime horn.

In the second half, Charlie Harper doubled the advantage in the 68th minute, corralling a loose ball in the box and sending it into the top of the net. It was the first collegiate goal for the sophomore defender from Australia. Less than 10 minutes later, it was Bawa again scoring to earn his first career brace.

In the Carolina goal, Andrew Cordes made two second-half saves to keep the Hokies off the scoresheet for the final 88 minutes of the night. The Tar Heels held Virginia Tech to just eight total shots and three shots on goal, compared to 18 total and 12 on goal for Carolina.

Up next for UNC, which improves to 8-3-5 on the year, is a road rematch with No. 2 seed Wake Forest in the tournament quarterfinals on Sunday at 4 p.m. The Demon Deacons defeated Carolina 1-0 in Winston-Salem on October 14.

 

Featured image via UNC Men’s Soccer on Twitter

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