WILLIAMSBURG — William and Mary entered its men’s soccer match Tuesday night at Martin Family Stadium against No. 9 North Carolina following a disheartening double-overtime loss Saturday at Delaware to start CAA play.
And preseason ACC favorite UNC didn’t enter rain-soaked Albert-Daly Field on its best form, a week removed from an upset loss at home to East Tennessee State. After netting one goal in a win over Pittsburgh Friday, the Tar Heels had scored only two goals in three games.
It was the imperfect storm for the Tribe (5-3), which fell 4-1 to UNC (6-1), after earning a draw last season in Chapel Hill.
“It’s North Carolina,” W&M coach Chris Norris said. “It’s a big opponent. There was no lack of motivation, certainly. It was just hard, I think, for us to emotionally summon the kind of energy that we needed for tonight’s game.”
It was the second meeting of the season at home against a top-25 team for the Tribe, which downed then-No. 21 Coastal Carolina 2-1 on Aug. 29.
W&M created the better chances from the onset, but the visitors in dark blue scored first and never trailed, building a 2-1 halftime advantage.
Four Tar Heels scored, including twin brothers Tucker and Walker Hume, who each found the net in the second half.
The Humes are 6-foot-5 redshirt seniors from San Angelo, Texas; Tucker is a forward and Walker a central back.
“UNC is always going to be a good program,” W&M junior William Eskay said. “For us, I think, one of the hardest things to deal with is the size of their guys. They’re so dangerous when there’s a (ball in the air).”
The Tar Heels added their fourth goal in the 72nd minute on a perfectly placed diagonal cross by senior Colton Storm to Walker Hume, who buried a header far-post after the visitors played a corner kick short on the right side of the field for Storm.
UNC doubled its advantage for the second time in the 56th minute as leading team scorer Tucker Hume got on the end of a through-ball deep into the box from junior forward and fellow Texan Alan Winn. The left-footed shot from Hume, as he fell to ground on the right, curved beyond the reach of W&M goalkeeper Phil Breno in the top netting at the far left post.
Eskay scored in the 25th minute on an assist from redshirt senior Jeff Bombelles, a Maury High product. Eskay corralled Bombelles’ pass and, from about 30 yards out, shot the ball past UNC keeper James Pyle, the ball skidding on the wet grass before barreling into the back of the net.
“I think after we scored that goal, it sparked our team a little bit,” Eskay said. ” It gave us the intensity and the right emotional response to get back into the game that I think we were lacking when we got behind goals.”
W&M freshman Reeves Trott, a Lafayette High product who earned his third start at forward, saw his only shot of the contest rocket over the crossbar from near the top of the 18-yard box.
“We knew UNC was going to be a tough game,” Trott said. “We were confident coming in and we had a good game plan. We knew they were big and moved the ball well. A couple of bounces didn’t go our way.”
UNC found the net first despite W&M creating the first several chances, including freshman defender Tanner Shane’s left-footed blast off the post following an Antonio Bustamante corner kick from the left to the opposite post, where Shane waited inside the 18.
The Tar Heels opened the scoring in the 13th minute when junior forward Zach Wright got to the byline and slotted a pass back and inside the penalty area for freshman midfielder Jeremy Kelly, who knocked in the goal.
Four minutes later, UNC doubled its lead to 2-0 when Wright settled a rebound in front of net on the left and ripped a line drive to the left of a diving Breno.
W&M next heads to UNC Wilmington on Saturday. The Seahawks beat nationally ranked Charlotte on Tuesday.
“Right now, we’re just really looking for a good performance,” Norris said. “We obviously have to be better defensively. We have to be better with dealing with combination play and that kind of thing.”
No. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 4, WILLIAM AND MARY 1
Half: 2-1. Goals: UNC, Kelly, Wright, T. Hume, W. Hume; W&M, Eskay. Assists: UNC, Wright, Lindley 2, Pieters, Winn, Storm; W&M, Bombelles. Saves: UNC, Pyle 3; W&M, Breno 3. Records: UNC 6-1, W&M 5-3.
Holtzman can be reached by phone at 757-298-5830.
