UNC men’s soccer team win ACC regular season title
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Erin Hull / DTH
Senior midfielder Michael Farfan returned from injury to score the only goal UNC needed — a penalty kick 20 minutes into the ACC match.
“It’s a tremendous accomplishment for our team,” Bolowich said. “I’m very, very happy for our senior class to go out like that. They’ve done a tremendous job over the years, and the ones that came as transfers, they’ve blended right in. To achieve something like this in the ACC is outstanding.”Though the Tar Heels (14-2-1, 7-0-1 ACC) have shown a flair for the dramatic in this record-setting season, no theatrics were necessary on Senior Night. Fittingly it was Michael Farfan, UNC’s elusive senior midfielder, who drew first blood 20 minutes into the game.Redshirt freshman Matt Rose received a pass down the left flank from sophomore Enzo Martinez and managed to slip past a Clemson (5-8-4, 2-4-2 ACC) defender along the endline before being brought down in the box by Tiger goalkeeper Cody Mizell.
Farfan coolly converted the ensuing penalty to give UNC the only goal it would need.The Tigers had a point-blank attempt at an equalizer snuffed out by UNC goalie Scott Goodwin in the 53nd minute, but that was as close as they would come as the Tar Heels out shot the opposition 19-7.Junior forward Alex Dixon led the UNC attack in the second half. Though he was unable to convert on any of his three shots, Dixon was a code red for the visitors in orange throughout the evening, using his instant acceleration to snatch lazy back passes and fly past defenders down the sidelines.Appropriately it was freshman forward Robbie Lovejoy who finally put the finishing touches on the program’s first unbeaten ACC season.
The Greensboro native is one of a cadre of underclassmen reinforcements who have carried the load for the 12 Tar Heels who have missed games due to injury this season.Lovejoy struck with less than 17 minutes to play after a Kirk Urso corner kick grazed the head of a Clemson defender and fell to the feet of UNC midfielder Dustin McCarty on the left side of the 18-yard box. McCarty smacked the ball toward goal, where Lovejoy used his back heel to redirect the ball into the net for his third score in the five games since Bolowich burned his redshirt less than a month ago.
“Robbie’s been unbelievable this year,” senior Eddie Ababio said. “He came in, didn’t think he was going to play, got his opportunities. He’s taken full advantage of it. It’s awesome.”Having accomplished its preseason goal of winning the league outright, UNC now moves on to its next challenge — the ACC Tournament, where the Tar Heels will look to secure a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament and the home-field advantage that comes with it.UNC opens play Wednesday in the quarterfinals against either N.C. State or Virginia Tech.“There’s always stuff to improve on,” Ababio said. “So we just got to take care of ourselves, get healthy and want it.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
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