The Charlotte 49ers men’s soccer team’s season came to an end Friday night at Transamerica field in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against UNC Wilmington. The Niners once again scored first, allowed a late goal and fell in penalty kicks.
Adam Gross scored in the 28th minute for Charlotte, while Daniel Roberts scored for UNCW in the 81st minute to tie the score.
“We defended very well tonight and really never looked like we would concede a goal,” Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said. “The really disappointing thing tonight was that we just didn’t play well going forward. Our strikers have been incredible through the year, but they just struggled tonight.”
The game was played under incredibly tough conditions as a thick layer of fog covered the field for the majority of the night. The fog was so thick at the time of Gross’ 28th-minute goal that members of the media couldn’t even see the play develop and had to be told what happened. The fog eventually cleared in the second half to provide better visibility.
“It was pretty simple really. I got the ball around midfield and the Red Sea parted for me,” Gross said of his ninth goal of the season. “I was able to dribble in unimpeded for about 20 yards. I hit a shot and the field was wet, the ball skipped, it was low and the keeper lost track of it and it just went off him and into the corner.”
Gross’ goal was the ninth of the season for the senior midfielder and looked for a long time as if it had moved the Niners on to the next round. The goal moved Gross into a 19th-place tie in all-time 49er points scored with 51.
Behind the strong play of goalkeeper David Martin and senior defenseman Nathan Mathers, Charlotte held their 1-0 advantage at the break and outshot UNCW 7-5. Both teams had numerous opportunities to score in the final 25 minutes of the half but failed to capitalize.
The 49ers nearly made the score 2-0 in the second half when Jennings Rex received a beautiful through-ball from near midfield. However, Seahawks goalkeeper Brock Duckworth made the save of the game to keep the score 1-0.
With just under 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Charlotte committed a foul just outside of its own 18-yard box. From around 25 yards out, Roberts stepped up and curled a perfect shot just past Martin for the tying score and his fourth goal of the season.
“To be honest, I haven’t hit one that well all year,” Roberts said of his game-tying goal. “I practiced them a lot over the summer and had been quite disappointed all season. So it was nice to finally get one right. It came at the right time.”
Neither team could break the scoreboard in the final nine minutes of regulation or in either overtime period. UNCW eventually took the game 4-1 in penalty kicks after the Seahawks went 4-4 and the Niners missed two of their first three shots. The win moved UNCW on to the next round to play Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon.
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