UNC ‘s Ben Speas lofted a 25-yard shot over goalkeeper Charlotte Klay Davis midway through the second half to give North Carolina a 1-0 victory over Charlotte in the NCAA men’s soccer championship game.
The Tar Heels ( season record : 21-2-3) earned the UNC’s first national title in 10 years. They lost in the semifinals each of the previous two seasons and bowed in the final in 2008. The top-seeded Tar Heels beat unseeded and upset-minded Charlotte 1-0 in front of 8,777 fans at Regions Park.
The Tar Heels were upset in their ACC opener by Virginia Tech and lost a nonconference match to Davidson, but became the first team since 1995 to win ACC regular season, ACC tournament end NCAA titles in a single season. whereas North Carolina coach Carlos Somoano (pronounced Some-WAH-no) became the second coach in NCAA history to win a national title in his first season, joining Indiana’s Mike Freitag, who accomplished the feat in 2004. He is only the third coach to reach 20 wins in his inaugural campaign, joining San Diego State’s Chuck Clegg (1982) and Santa Clara’s Mitch Murray (1991), as the Tar Heels finished 21-2-3.
Ben Speas, who had an assist in North Carolina’s semifinal victory over UCLA on Friday, worked the ball toward the middle of the field and hit a left-footed shot that barely cleared the outstretched arm of Davis. Although North Carolina made the College Cup for the fourth consecutive season, only three current players — Urso, goalkeeper Scott Goodwin and midfielder Enzo Martinez — started for the Tar Heels at the event last season. The Carolina coaching vacancy was created on Feb. 9 when former coach Elmar Bolovich, who led UNC to the 2001 title, left for Creighton after 21 seasons in Chapel Hill. After serving as the interim coach following nine seasons as an assistant, Somoano was named the program’s fifth head coach on April 25.
“I went to my right and was going to take a shot, but I got cut off so I went back to my left and hit it with my left foot,” Speas said. “It dipped over the keeper and luckily went in.”
The unseeded 49ers (16-5-4) from Charlotte outshot North Carolina 14-3 in the second half, including a flurry of four shots during a burst with about four minutes left.
Tar Heels goalkeeper Scott Goodwin said, “It was hectic, to say the least. Charlotte did an amazing job toward the end of the game putting us under pressure.”
Charlotte’s Donnie Smith was knocked down in the penalty box by North Carolina’s Kirk Urso in the 47th minute. Referee Michael Kennedy didn’t call a foul, though, so the 49ers did not get a penalty kick.
“In my own humble opinion, that was a penalty,” Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said. “Those decisions even out through the season. But there’s a good chance when we watch it on the DVD that a cup of tea might go flying across the room.”
First-year North Carolina men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano isn’t one to sling one-liners in a press conference or blow a gasket at a referee.
His leadership style is understated yet effective, as evidenced by the confetti machine raining yellow, blue and white down on the Tar Heels on Sunday following the championship match of the NCAA College Cup.
“He gave us a little pre-game speech and after he left the field, the players looked at each other and were like, ‘Great speech,’ ” said UNC senior captain Kirk Urso of the man players simply refer to as ‘Carlos.’ “We were all motivated and ready to go. He has his moments.”
“The fact that we won the national championship is extremely rewarding, but more so than anything is my experience working for these guys and them working for me and us working as a team for each other,” the 41-year-old Somoano said. “That’s what makes me feel great inside.”
His devotion to the sport had paid off for Somoano, who grew up in football-crazy Texas and was a former two-time captain at Division II Eckerd on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Urso said that from day one during the preseason, every minute of the day was organized. To Goodwin, discipline and focus have been hallmarks of the Somoano tenure.
“He kept us week by week on who we’re playing, who we’re facing,” Goodwin said. “I think now we can kind of celebrate a bit, which is nice.”
Somoano also welcomed two standout transfers including Ben Speas, a junior who won a national title last year at Akron and scored the game’s lone goal on an unassisted 25-yarder in the 65th minute on Sunday in what the coach called a “moment of inspiration.” UNC featured the youngest starting line-up of the College Cup field.
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