2021 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team
American college soccer season
The 2021 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season . It was the 75th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by eleventh year head coach Carlos Somoano and played their home games at Dorrance Field .
The Tar Heels finished the season 11–7–2 overall and 4–4–0 in ACC play to finish in fourth place in the Coastal Division. As the seventh overall seed in the ACC Tournament , they defeated Syracuse in the First Round, before losing to Clemson in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament . As an unseeded team, they defeated Loyola (MD) via penalty shoot-out in the First Round before losing to sixth seeded New Hampshire in the Second Round.
Background
The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic , which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.
The Tar Heels finished the fall season 3–2–2 and 3–1–2 in ACC play to finish in second place in the South Division. In the ACC Tournament lost to Notre Dame in the Quarterfinals. They finished the spring season 4–2–1 and 4–1–1 in ACC play, to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament . As an unseeded team in the tournament, they progressed pass Charlotte in the Second Round via penalties, defeated Stanford in the Third Round, and Wake Forest in the Quarterfinals before losing to Marshall in the Semifinals to end their season.
At the end of the season, three Tar Heels men's soccer players were selected in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft : Matt Constant , Mark Salas and Giovanni Montesdeoca .[ 1]
Player movement
Departures
Recruiting class
Name
Nat.
Hometown
Club
TDS Rating
Nicolas Bellini FW
USA
Lehi, UT
Real Salt Lake
[ 2]
USA
Doral, FL
Inter Miami CF U18
[ 3]
Quinn Closson GK
USA
Fairfield, CT
NYCFC Academy
[ 4]
Andrew Czech MF
USA
Elmhurst, IL
Sockers FC
[ 5]
USA
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta United
[ 6]
USA
Vero Beach, FL
SIMA
[ 7]
USA
Huntsville, AL
Portland Timbers Academy
[ 8]
Daniel Kutsch MF
USA
Birmingham, AL
Alabama FC
[ 9]
Zack Naughton MF
USA
Goldsboro, NC
Wilmington Hammerheads FC
[ 10]
Lucas Ross FW
USA
Verona, NJ
PDA Academy
N/A[ 11]
Matthew Senanou DF
USA
Plainfield, IL
Sockers FC
[ 12]
Gui Vivaldini MF
USA
Chattanooga, TN
The McCallie School
[ 13]
Squad
Roster
As of January 27, 2022 [ 14]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Team management
Position
Staff
Athletic Director
Bubba Cunningham
Head Coach
Carlos Somoano
Assistant Coach
Grant Porter
Assistant Coach
Will Clayton
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Michael Harrington
Source:[ 14]
Schedule
Source:[ 15] [ 16]
Date Time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 15 * 8:30 p.m.
No. 4
No. 1 Marshall
T 1–1
–
Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, NC
August 20 * 7:00 p.m.
No. 4
Liberty
L 0–1
–
Liberty Soccer Stadium Lynchburg, VA
Regular season
August 26 * 7:30 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4
Bucknell
W 7–0
1–0–0
Dorrance Field (1,227) Chapel Hill, NC
August 29 * 7:30 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4
VCU
T 1–1 2OT
1–0–1
Dorrance Field (1,776) Chapel Hill, NC
September 3 * 7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 6
Georgia Southern
W 3–0
2–0–1
Dorrance Field (498) Chapel Hill, NC
September 6 * 7:00 p.m., ESPN+
No. 6
at Davidson
W 3–0
3–0–1
Alumni Soccer Stadium (2,163)Davidson, NC
September 10 7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4
at No. 15 Pittsburgh
L 0–4
3–1–1 (0–1–0)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,115)Pittsburgh, PA
September 14 * 7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 16
Campbell
W 1–0
4–1–1
Dorrance Field (538) Chapel Hill, NC
September 19 7:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 16
No. 12 Duke Rivalry
L 0–3
4–2–1 (0–2–0)
Dorrance Field (2,310) Chapel Hill, NC
September 25 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN
at Virginia
W 2–0
5–2–1 (1–2–0)
Klöckner Stadium (2,046)Charlottesville, VA
September 29 * 7:00 p.m., FloSports
at UNC Wilmington
L 1–2
5–3–1
UNCW Soccer Stadium (1,321)Wilmington, NC
October 3 7:00 p.m., ACCN
NC State
W 4–0
6–3–1 (2–2–0)
Dorrance Field (1,433) Chapel Hill, NC
October 8 7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Wake Forest
L 1–2
6–4–1 (2–3–0)
Dorrance Field (1,283) Chapel Hill, NC
October 12 * 7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Wofford
W 1–0
7–4–1
Dorrance Field (466) Chapel Hill, NC
October 15 7:00 p.m., ACCN
at Louisville
L 0–2
7–5–1 (2–4–0)
Lynn Stadium (562)Louisville, KY
October 19 * 7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 15 Loyola Marymount
W 2–0
8–5–1
Dorrance Field (471) Chapel Hill, NC
October 24 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN
at No. 13 Virginia Tech
W 2–0
9–5–1 (3–4–0)
Thompson Field (1,115)Blacksburg, VA
October 29 4:30 p.m., ESPNU
No. 11 Notre Dame
W 3–1
10–5–1 (4–4–0)
Dorrance Field (1,481) Chapel Hill, NC
ACC Tournament
November 3 8:00 p.m., ACCN
(7) No. 18
(10) Syracuse First Round
W 1–0 2OT
11–5–1
Dorrance Field (544) Chapel Hill, NC
November 7 8:00 p.m., ACCN
(7) No. 18
at (2) No. 9 Clemson Quarterfinals
L 1–2
11–6–1
Riggs Field (2,351)Clemson, SC
NCAA Tournament
November 18 6:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 23
Loyola (MD) First Round
T 0–0 (4–2 PKs)
11–6–2
Dorrance Field (1,347) Chapel Hill, NC
November 21 2:00 p.m., ESPN+
No. 23
(16) No. 6 New Hampshire Second Round
L 1–4
11–7–2
Wildcat Stadium (3,264)Durham, NH
*Non-conference game. # Rankings from United Soccer Coaches . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern .
Awards and honors
2022 MLS Super Draft
Source:[ 20]
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final United Soccer [ 21] 4 6 4 16 RV RV RV — — RV 18 23 Not released RV TopDrawer Soccer [ 22] 4 5 2 4 11 11 17 — — 23 20 20 22 22 22 22 22
References
^ "2021 MLS SuperDraft Tracker" . MLSSoccer.com . Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021 .
^ "Nicolas Bellini" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Andres Cardenas" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Quinn Closson" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Andrew Czech" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Matthew Edwards" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Luc Granitur" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Tega Ikoba" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Daniel Kutsch" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Zack Naughton" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Lucas Ross" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Matthew Senanou" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Gui Vivaldini" . topdrawersoccer.com . Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ a b "2021 Men's Soccer Roster" . goheels.com . University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved January 27, 2022 .
^ "2021 Men's Soccer Schedule" . goheels.com . University of North Carolina. Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Tar Heels Release 2021 Men's Soccer Schedule" . goheels.com . University of North Carolina Athletics. July 16, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Pitt Named Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite" . theacc.com . Atlantic Coast Conference. August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021 .
^ "UNC's Garvanian, Smir Earn ACC Men's Soccer Player of the Week Distinction" . theacc.com . The Atlantic Coast Conference. October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021 .
^ "2021 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Unveiled" . theacc.com . The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021 .
^ "Smir Selected By FC Dallas In MLS SuperDraft" . goheels.com . University of North Carolina Athletics. January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022 .
^ "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings" . National Soccer Coaches Association of America . December 14, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021 .
^ "College Soccer National Rankings" . TopDrawer Soccer. December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021 .
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA/ISFA/NSCAA national championships in bold ; NCAA College Cup appearances in italics
Regular Season Tournaments National Tournaments Rankings & awards