CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-4-3, 2-3-0) fell 1-7 on the road against the North Carolina Tar Heels (6-2-3, 2-1-2). Freshman forward Tristan Tropeano scored Notre Dame’s sole goal of the night for the Irish as he leads the team with five goals and nine points so far this season.
Notre Dame scored on their first shot of the night as they claimed an early 1-0 lead in the 7th minute. Vlad Walent played a beautiful ball into the box toward the far post as Tristan Tropeano ran in on the weak side with a right-footed touch to put the Irish on the board.
With the Irish struggling to find more scoring opportunities, North Carolina started to pick up momentum towards the end of the half, which would carry through the rest of the match.
It wasn’t until the 28th minute that the Tar Heels found the equalizer on their eighth shot of the evening, sparking what would be a 3-0 run from North Carolina. Shortly after in the 35th minute, North Carolina went on to score back-to-back goals to claim a 3-1 advantage in the first half.
In the 46th minute, the Tar Heels chipped it into the box and scored on a header for their fourth goal of the night to open the second half.
Chipping it ahead on the attack, a square pass across the box led to another Tar Heel goal for a 5-1 lead in the 50th minute. North Carolina would go on to score their sixth goal of the evening in the 57th minute.
Nico Bartlett looked to get another goal on the board for the Irish in the 71st minute as he fired it to the bottom right corner of the goal, but a diving effort from the Tar Heel goalkeeper would fend off the Irish goal.
A handball in the box would lead to a North Carolina penalty kick, where they converted on the penalty kick opportunity in the 82nd minute.
Despite one last effort from Ethan Scala in the final minute as he put his shot on goal, the Irish would fall 1-7 on the road.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“First, credit to UNC. They played well tonight and deserved the victory. The good thing is that this only counts as one game. We’ll learn from it, get back to work, and be ready for the next one..”
UP NEXT
The Irish are back at home on Saturday, Oct. 17 as they host the Boston College Eagles at 6:00 PM at Alumni Stadium.