UNC's Golden Goal in 95th minute Sinks Virginia
Sept. 22, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Red-shirt sophomore Jelani Pieters scored his fifth goal of the season in the 95th minute to help No. 7 North Carolina (8-1, 3-0 ACC) defeat No. 9 Virginia (5-1-1, 1-1-1 ACC), 2-1 in front of 4,205 fans at Klöckner Stadium.
Pieters worked around three defenders outside the box and sent a shot into the lower right corner of the net for the game-winner. The loss for Virginia was the first in four extra time games this season and in the process it snapped a 21-game home unbeaten streak.
“These were two great teams and I knew it would be a matter of one mistake and one great play, unfortunately they were able to capitalize,” said Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch. “If I can get one thing back, it’d be that first goal we gave up but we’ll learn from it and get better. That is a very good team and my guys played hard, I’m proud of them.”
Despite a 6-2 shot advantage by North Carolina, neither team was able to land shot on target over the first 45 minutes of play. The Cavaliers opened up the scoring with a go-ahead goal just eight minutes into the second half. Senior Pablo Aguilar (Guatemala City, Guatemala) setup the score with a short pass towards the top of the box in which Joe Bell (Wanaka, New Zealand) ran on and buried into the top right hand corner of the net. Bell’s tally was his first of his career and he became Virginia’s ninth different scorer this season.
The Cavalier lead was short-lived as just under five minutes later, the ACC’s leading scorer, Alan Winn, recorded the equalizer with an unassisted goal in the 58th minute. The goal was his seventh of the year and third this week.
Virginia goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell (Todd, N.C.) made three saves, two in a spectacular sequence in the closing minutes of regulation to keep the score tied at one.
North Carolina out-shot Virginia 15-11 in the contest and held a 6-4 edge in corner kicks. The Cavaliers had three of their nine, second-half shots go on goal.
Up Next: Virginia will have a quick turnaround with a Monday non-conference matchup against Davidson at 6 p.m. Note the game time has been moved up from its original time of 7 p.m. but will still air on ACC Network Extra.
Game Notes
-UVA falls to 2-1-1 in overtime this season. It marked the first extra time game for North Carolina in 2017.
-Friday night’s attendance of 4,205 was the largest crowd since the 2015 season opener against then-No. 17 Charlotte on Aug. 29.
-Virginia had been unbeaten in its last three games against North Carolina including a 2-1, come-from-behind win in Chapel Hill last season.
-The match was the first men’s soccer fixture with two, top-10 teams at Klöckner Stadium since Sept. 21, 2014, a 1-1 draw against then-No. 5 Notre Dame
-The last UVA loss in at Klöckner Stadium was on Oct. 13, 2015, a 1-0 setback against American
-North Carolina came into the contest as the top-ranked offense in the county with 2.88 goals per game. Virginia had the seventh most potent offense, scoring 2.5 goals per match.