WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary men's soccer suffered a 3-0 loss to Atlantic Coast Conference foe North Carolina on Tuesday night at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.
The Tar Heels (7-4-4) scored three times in the opening 37 minutes of the contest to put the game out of reach. Sam Williams got the visitors on the board in the fourth minute, scoring inside the left post from eight yards out off a pass from Tim Schels.
UNC doubled its lead just five minutes later on a Ernst Bawa blast from deep in the midfield. On the play, Schels won the ball via a slide tackle, knocking the ball into the path of Bawa. He caught the Tribe defense off guard and scored into the upper left corner of the goal off the quick change.
The Tribe (4-6-6) had two good chances in the opening half but couldn't find a goal. Senior
Alexander Levengood collected a cross in the middle of the penalty area in the 16th minute, but his shot went high of the frame. In the 30th minute, senior
Nathan Messer dribbled along the top of the box and hit a shot toward the right post that was smothered by UNC goalkeeper Marco Saborio-Perez.
The Tar Heels increased its lead to 3-0 in the 37th minute as Yaya Bakayoko scored inside the left post from 10 yards out off a pass from Key White.
In the 66th minute, Levengood drew a penalty kick when he was tackled near the left end line from behind. The Richmond, Va., native took the spot kick, but Saborio-Perez made the diving spot.
W&M just missed finding a goal in the final seconds as well. Off a free kick, senior
Theo Biddle got on the end of it in the penalty area, but his shot hit off the left post and bounded away.
Junior goalkeeper
Will Stack made his first appearance of 2022, tallying a pair of second-half saves.
Scoring Summary
4' | UNC – Sam Williams (Cameron Fischer/Tim Schels)
9' | UNC – Ernest Bawa (Tim Schels)
37' | UNC – Yaya Bakayoko (Key White)
Starters
W&M - #1 Stack (GK), #2 Biddle, #4 Bradley, #5 Branco, #7 Levengood, #11 Messer, #14 Knapp, #16 Kosich, #19 Hosseinian, #21 Cooper, #23 Core
UNC – #24 Saborio-Perez (GK), #2 Zinnhardt, #7 Williams, #15 Thomas, #17 Fisher, #20 Bawa, #22 Garvanian, #23 Schacht, #25 Clarke, #26 Edwards, #28 Schels
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up the regular season with a huge Colonial Athletic Association match, hosting Monmouth on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. from Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field and the match will be streamed on FloFC. A Tribe victory would go a long way in potentially clinching a CAA Tournament berth.
