Orange Advance Past UNC in PKs

Tuesday, November 5

Chapel Hill, NC

4 PM

Syracuse University

7-5-5, 2-4-2

North Carolina

7-7-4, 3-5-0

Syracuse

North Carolina

11/5/2019 8:13:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Highlights

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Syracuse won a penalty kick shootout against North Carolina to advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday. Sophomore Christian Miesch made a save on the Tar Heels' first try and the Orange went on to win the shootout, 5-3.

"I asked (the team) for a reaction after the game against Boston College last week," Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. "We were terrific today. We worked extremely hard and had some chances to win it, but this game could have gone either way. (We're) a happy group to survive and advance onto the next round."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The game officially ended in a 0-0 tie, but the shootout was needed to decide which team would move on to the tournament second round. Senior Massimo Ferrin was first to the line for the Orange and he converted to give Syracuse the early lead. Santiago Herrera was up first for North Carolina, and Miesch made a diving stop on his shot to keep the 'Cuse in front. Sophomore Ryan Raposo, senior Severin Soerlie and junior Sondre Norheim all converted on their tries as did Mauricio Pineda, Jack Skahan and Jeremy Kelly for the Tar Heels. That gave senior Matt Orr a chance to clinch it for Syracuse and he did just that when his shot hit the back of the net for the 5-3 victory.

The best scoring chances for both teams came in the final 10 minutes of regulation and the two overtime periods. After Syracuse (7-5-5) was called offsides on a counterattack in the 81st minute, North Carolina (7-7-4) appeared to have taken the lead in the 85th minute, but the goal was waved off when the Tar Heels were ruled offsides.

Miesch kept the game tied at 0-0 when he made a stop on a shot from close range in the 92nd minute. Raposo and freshmen Noah Singelmann and Luther Archimede each got off shots in the first extra session, but UNC goalkeeper Alec Smir made two saves and Archimede's try went wide. Neither team could produce a shot in the second overtime, forcing the penalty kick shootout.

OF NOTE
Tuesday's match marked the second meeting between the two schools in the ACC Tournament and the second shootout. The Orange traveled to Chapel Hill for the second round of the 2015 conference tournament. The match ended in a 1-1 tie and Syracuse won the shootout, 4-3, and went on to win its first ACC Championship.

Miesch recorded three saves and posted his third shutout of the year.

UP NEXT
Syracuse will travel to Charlottesville to take on No. 2 seed and fourth-ranked Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 10.