After a spectacular regular season that included an ACC Coastal Division title, the third-ranked UNC men’s soccer team fell flat in its conference tournament opener on Sunday–falling 2-1 to the No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.

Notre Dame avenged a 3-0 loss to the Tar Heels–which was played on the same field just over a week ago–by going ahead early and keeping the powerful UNC offense in check.

Blake Townes’ header in the sixth minute put the Fighting Irish (11-5-2) in control, despite the Tar Heels racking up a 7-1 shot advantage in the first half.

The beginning of the second half saw the Tar Heels (14-3-1) continue to be aggressive, but they couldn’t quite break through when they needed it most.

Notre Dame then doubled its lead in the 78th minute after Jon Gallagher’s 12th goal of the season.

UNC mounted a valiant comeback effort with an 87th-minute goal from senior Alan Winn, but couldn’t quite overcome its two-goal deficit.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will now have to wait until the NCAA Tournament field is released before they know their next opponent.

 

 

 

 

Photo via Jeffrey A. Camarati (UNC Athletics)

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