Local Soccer Players Making A Name in College

From The Daily Tar Heel:

Men’s soccer wins ninth straight game

By Henry Gargan | The Daily Tar Heel

Updated: 6 hours ago

Midfielder Enzo Martinez (Northwestern High School) came up with a goal against College of Charleston in North Carolina’s 4-2 win Friday, but he could have just as easily delivered the scouting report.

Martinez, who went to high school in Rock Hill, S.C., said he grew up playing club soccer with seven of Charleston’s players.

“It was great for me to see them, and to be kicked by and kick them,” he said.

Although Charleston managed to score two goals against the Tar Heels — a feat equaled only by Duke in a 2-2 draw — UNC’s offensive firepower proved plentiful enough to compensate for a lackluster defensive performance and allowed it to extend its unbeaten streak to nine games.

The Cougars were the first team to score multiple goals in the same half against UNC, and they did so with bewildering efficiency. Even though the Tar Heels generally kept the action on Charleston’s side of the pitch, the Cougars managed to score two first-half goals with only four shots, compared to the 10 taken by UNC.

On just their second attempt of the game, Charleston forward Eric Fornell found the net on the counterattack for the match’s first goal during the 17th minute.

“I should have won the ball, but I didn’t go in hard enough,” Martinez said. “Robbie Benson (Northwestern High School), who I played with in high school, won the ball and made a great pass and (Fornell) had a good finish.”

UNC responded just minutes later with a finish of their own, converting a Ben Speas corner into a rare goal off the head of defender Matt Hedges.

Another strike shortly after gave the Heels their first lead of the game. Martin Murphy scored his first goal of the season off the bench with a blistering low ball into the lower-left corner from 22 yards out.

But Charleston would soon prove that their early success was not a fluke. Troy Peterson equalized on the Cougars’ third shot of the game, sending a volley into the UNC net from short range in the 32nd minute.

“It was sloppy play. Both of (the goals) were very sloppy play,” coach Carlos Somoano said.

“From an attacking standpoint, we were circulating the ball sometimes, but on defense we were not in our spots, not following our game plan at all. We were just kind of running around.”

In the second half, UNC locked down the Charleston attack, allowing just one additional shot on goal.

“We started slow, but those two goals woke us up as a team,” Hedges said. “We realized that we’d have to get ourselves together. And after that we played really well, especially in the second half. You can’t really explain these things.”

The Tar Heels continued their offensive onslaught with 13 second-half shots and two goals.

Martinez capped off the scoring for UNC in the 73rd minute with some effective dribbling and put the ball past a frustrated Charleston goalkeeper to ice the match for UNC.

“I was really happy to score a goal on that,” said Martinez, who is recovering from an MCL injury. “Not because of the injury, but because I haven’t scored one in a while, and we needed it — just like we needed the first, second, and third goals.”

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