Men's Soccer Falls at No. 4 UNC

Sunday, August 27

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7:30 PM

Rutgers University

0-2

North Carolina

2-0

Rutgers

North Carolina

Photo by: Suzie Wolf

Aug 27 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CARY, N.C. – The Rutgers men's soccer team had a tough opening weekend, closing out its road trip to ACC country with a 6-1 setback to national semifinalist and No. 4 North Carolina at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The Scarlet Knights opened the 2017 season taking on two College Cup opponents ranked in the top 4 having taken on national runner-up and No. 2 Wake Forest on Friday night.

"We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend. No question, those were two of the best teams in the entire country and they looked like they were in mid-season form," said head coach Dan Donigan. "We told our guys to keep their perspectives as they played two incredibly difficult teams on the road the first weekend of the season. They understand it and are ready to go back to work. They are disappointed, but at the same time know we will improve and over the course of the season, we will."

Jelani Pieters scored twice for the Tar Heels along with an assist while 2016 TopDrawerSoccer National Freshman of the Year Cam Lindley and 2016 Second Team All-ACC Zach Wright each added a pair of helpers in the win.

North Carolina struck twice in the game's opening 10 minutes with David October starting the night's scoring converting a penalty kick. Jeremey Kelly later made it 2-0 in favor of the Tar Heels off a free kick from Lindley, hitting the cross bar with the ball bouncing in.

The Scarlet Knights got onto the scoreboard and trailed 2-1 in the game's 16^th minute. The UNC defense knocked in the ball on a cross by Dante Perez at the near post.

The Tar Heels produced one more tally before the half. While Rutgers goalkeeper Rafael Pereira thwarted the attempt by John Nelson, the rebound landed at the feet of Alex Rose, who then had an opening at the center of goal.
After the intermission, North Carolina added three more goals.

Peters score twice in the second stanza. First, jumping up for a header at the far post off the feed from Lindley in the 51^st minute. Then again in the 61^st minute, tapping in the ball at the center of the net after the UNC offense drew Pereira out at the near post.

Andy Lopez rounded out the Tar Heel scoring in the 85^th minute of play, lofting the ball from the right side of the 18 into the opposite corner.

UNC outshot RU, 19-5. Pereira made seven saves in the loss, while his counterpart James Pyle saved three Scarlet Knight shots.

"Now we've got to take these two games for what they were, learn from it and get ready for next weekend. We have two really difficult Midwest teams coming up on the road. We've got to keep our mindset about us and know that we took on two of the best teams in the country, learn from it and move on."

Rutgers will remain on the road next weekend. The Scarlet Knights travel to Oral Roberts on Friday, Sept. 1 and UMKC on Sunday, Sept. 3.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersMensSoccer) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/RUMensSoccer) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on both social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.

-RU-