CARY, N.C. – The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels won a defensive battle, outlasting the fifth-seeded Boston College Eagles, 1-0, in the ACC Men’s Soccer Championship Semifinals Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Tar Heels advance to face second-seeded Maryland at 1:00 p.m. Sunday for the ACC title.
 
UNC broke a scoreless tie at the 54:01 mark when Enzo Martinez scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season. Kirk Urso started the decisive attack with a 35-yard shot that was knocked just left of the goal by BC goalkeeper Justin Luthy. Martinez was in position for a quick shot on the rebound, and after his first attempt bounced off the left post, he rebounded his own shot with a goal that gave the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead.
 
The Tar Heel defense made the goal stand up, limiting Boston College to a total of seven shots and no shots on goal. After a first half that featured no shots on goal by either team, North Carolina turned up the offensive intensity after intermission. Twelve of the Tar Heels’ 16 shots came in the second half.
 
“In the first half, we were more concerned with not turning the ball over instead of generating more pressure on their goal,” said UNC coach Elmar Bolowich. “That needed to change at the half. The guys responded in the second half. I think everybody could see there was much, much more direction in the second half. We were looking for the forward pass. We were looking for the forward run and things started to happen a little bit more in front of the ball. I think that made a difference in the game.”
 
“We lost to a better team,” Boston College coach Ed Kelly said. “I liked the way Carolina played and I wish them luck. Carolina possessed the ball a lot and made us run around and play a lot of defense.”
 
With the win, No. 2 North Carolina (16-2-1) extended its unbeaten streak to 12 matches. The only tie during the streak was a 1-1 contest at Boston College on October 15.
 
The 14th-ranked Eagles fell to 10-4-5 and will await Monday’s NCAA Selection Show to learn when and where they will next play.
 
North Carolina Head Coach Elmar Bolowich
On Carolina’s attack against Boston College…
“It was a real tough game today with Boston College being well prepared for us. They did a good job eliminating any threat in the first half. I felt like we had a hard time getting into a rhythm. We didn’t play fast enough, perhaps. We weren’t going forward enough. , We were more concerned with not turning the ball over instead of generating a little bit more pressure on their goal. That needed to change at the half and the guys responded in the second half. I think everybody could see there was much more direction in our game. We were looking for the forward pass; we were looking for the forward run. Things started to happen more in front of the ball. I think that made a difference in the game because after Kirk (Urso) took that shot Enzo (Martinez) was right there to finish off the play. Our games are where you just need that one break, where you just need that one opportunistic play to finish it off and break the ice.”
 
On preparing for Maryland…
“It’s not only playing Maryland, but it’s also playing for a championship. This is something that is big and something that you will always remember if you come out on top. We need to look at ourselves first. We know what Maryland is good at; we know what they are going to do. We will be prepared, but I think we have to focus on us and they have to focus on our execution and how we play the game.”
 
North Carolina Forward Enzo Martinez
On scoring the game winning goal…
“As soon as I saw Kirk (Urso) wind up, I just took my chance. The keeper dropped it and luckily I was there to take a shot.”
 
North Carolina Midfielder Kirk Urso
On making opportunities to score…
“Our whole team works hard and we know if we’re still in the game late that it only takes one shot to win the game. We’ve had a lot of tight games, but we definitely have found those opportunities to put them away. It’s a credit to our team attitude and our fight.”
 
Boston College Head Coach Ed Kelly
On the game…
“I thought we lost to a better team tonight. They played really well. I have a lot of respect for their team and their coaching staff, and we didn’t have our best game. We had a couple of things going here and there, but we are suffering from a lot of injuries. No excuses, though. I am sure everyone is at this time of year, but we are just not that deep on the bench. Carolina is a good team, and I like the way they play. I wish them luck”
 
On playing from behind…
“We stuck with them for a little while, but again, we were limited as far as injuries. We pushed another forward up, and he almost got one when he put it wide. We kept getting a few more guys injured. Karl (Reddick) came back from a bad ankle sprain, and he gave the 30 minutes he could give us and then he had to go back out again. We pushed up a little higher, but not much changed in what we created out of it. They did a very good job. (Jalil) Anibaba did a great job on our center-forward tonight.”
 
On Carolina’s game plan…
“They kept the ball a lot, so they had us running quite a bit. Again, (Jalil) Anibaba did a really good job when we played into Charlie (Rugg), so he did a great job in that situation. Not dominated, but possession-wise, they did really well with keeping the ball. They had us running quite a bit, and we were playing a lot of defense. Tough goal for us. They probably could have scored at different times. That one (game) was a tough one for us.”