# 2020 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team

The 2020 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 74th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by tenth year head coach Carlos Somoano and played their home games at Dorrance Field.
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.

## Background

The 2019 North Carolina men's soccer team finished the season with a 7–7–4 overall record and a 3–5–0 ACC record. The Tar Heels were seeded seventh–overall in the 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament. The Tar Heels were upset in the first round by the tenth seed Syracuse. The Tar Heels were not invited to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. This marked the first year since 2007 that the Tar Heels were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.
At the end of the season, two Tar Heels men's soccer players wer selected in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft: Jeremy Kelly and Jack Skahan.

## Player movement
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Mauricio Pineda | 2 | MF | 6'1" | 175 | Senior | Bolingbrook, IL | Graduated |
| Blake Malone | 4 | DF | 6'0" | 165 | Freshman | Las Vegas, NV | Signed with Orange County SC |
| Jack Skahan | 8 | MF | 5'10" | 165 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft; selected 27th overall by San Jose Earthquakes |
| Drew Romig | 12 | GK | 6'1" | 186 | Senior | Midlothian, VA | Graduated |
| Lenny Aharon | 14 | DF | 5'8" | 169 | Freshman | Herzlia, Israel | |
| Sebastian Berhalter | 15 | FW | 5'10" | 154 | Freshman | Westerville, OH | Signed with Columbus Crew |
| Martin Salas | 19 | MF | 5'10" | 148 | Senior | Dallas, TX | Graduated |
| Alex Moztarzadeh | 20 | MF | 5'9" | 153 | Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Jake Walker | 23 | DF | 6'0" | 160 | Sophomore | Davie, FL | |
| Liam Williams | 25 | DF | 6'0" | 178 | Junior | Taupō | |
| Jelani Pieters | 26 | FW | 6'0" | 165 | Senior | Oswego, IL | Graduated |
| Raul Aguilera | 28 | MF | 5'9" | 155 | Junior | Sanford, FL | Signed with Orlando City B |
| Jeremy Kelly | 29 | MF | 5'10" | 155 | Senior | Chapel Hill, NC | Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft; selected 9th overall by Montreal Impact |

### Recruiting class

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club |
| Axel Alejandre DF | USA | Chicago, IL | FC United (IL) |
| Yaya Bakayoko FW | USA | Bronx, NY | Manhattan SC |
| Sammed Bawa MF | USA | Hawthorn Woods, IL | Taft School |
| Jameson Charles MF | USA | Minneapolis, MN | Washburn |
| Akeim Clarke MF | USA | Windsor, CT | Black Rock FC |
| Garrett Kessel MF | USA | Oak Ridge, NC | North Carolina Fusion |
| Jonathan Sinclair MF | USA | Valley Stream, NY | F.A Euro |
| Riley Thomas DF | USA | Atlanta, GA | United Futbol Academy (GA) |

## Squad
### Roster

Updated December 10, 2020
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Alec Smir |
| 2 | MF | ITA | Filippo Zattarin |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Joe Pickering |
| 5 | DF | USA | Julian Hinojosa |
| 6 | DF | USA | Matt Constant |
| 7 | FW | USA | Lucas Del Rosario |
| 8 | MF | USA | Jameson Charles |
| 9 | MF | VEN | Santiago Herrera |
| 10 | FW | USA | Giovanni Montesdeoca |
| 11 | MF | USA | Antonio Lopez |
| 12 | GK | USA | J.P. Philpot |
| 13 | FW | USA | Key White |
| 14 | MF | SWE | Victor Olofsson |
| 15 | DF | USA | Riley Thomas |
| 16 | FW | USA | Jonathan Jimenez |
| 17 | MF | USA | Cameron Fisher |
| 18 | MF | WAL | Sam Jones |
| 19 | MF | USA | Jonathan Sinclari |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | USA | Ernest Bawa |
| 21 | FW | USA | Alex Rose |
| 22 | MF | USA | Milo Garvanian |
| 24 | GK | SUI | Marco Saborio-Perez |
| 25 | FW | USA | Akeim Clarke |
| 26 | FW | USA | Axel Alejandre |
| 27 | DF | USA | Mark Salas |
| 28 | MF | GER | Tim Schels |
| 29 | MF | USA | Yaya Bakayoko |
| 30 | GK | USA | Jake Schick |
| 31 | FW | CAN | Malik Henry |
| 32 | DF | USA | Aldair Sanchez |
| 33 | MF | USA | Garrett Kessel |
| 34 | MF | USA | Ahmad Al-Qaq |
| 35 | MF | USA | Sam Moore |
| 37 | MF | USA | Jacques Bouvery |
| 38 | MF | USA | Roman Knox |
| 39 | FW | ENG | Taff Wadda |

### 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 |
| Director of Operations | Tim Kübel |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Fall Exhibition ||||||
| September 20, 2020* 6:00 p.m. | | NC State | W 1–0 | – | Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, NC |
| Fall Regular season ||||||
| October 2, 2020 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Duke Rivalry | W 2–0 | 1–0–0 (1–0–0) | Koskinen Stadium Durham, NC |
| October 9, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | No. 3 Clemson | W 1–0 | 2–0–0 (2–0–0) | Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 18, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | at No. 1 Wake Forest Rivalry | L 0–1 $^{OT}$ | 2–1–0 (2–1–0) | Spry Stadium Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 27, 2020 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 5 | at No. 3 Clemson | T 3–3 $^{2OT}$ | 2–1–1 (2–1–1) | Riggs Field (1,000) Clemson, SC |
| November 1, 2020 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | NC State | T 0–0 $^{2OT}$ | 2–1–2 (2–1–2) | Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, NC |
| November 6, 2020 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 4 | Duke Rivalry | W 2–0 | 3–1–2 (3–1–2) | Dorrance Field (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 15, 2020 2:00 p.m., ACCN | (S2) No. 3 | (N3) Notre Dame Quarterfinals | L 0–1 $^{OT}$ | 3–2–2 | Dorrance Field (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| Spring Exhibition ||||||
| February 20, 2021* 4:00 p.m. | | vs. Clemson | W 1–0 | – | CSA OrthoCarolina Sportsplex (0) Pineville, NC |
| Spring Regular Season ||||||
| February 25, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Liberty | L 0–1 | 3–3–2 | Dorrance Field (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| March 5, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 4 Pittsburgh | W 3–0 | 4–3–2 (4–1–2) | Dorrance Field (351) Chapel Hill, NC |
| March 13, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 24 Virginia | W 2–0 | 5–3–2 (5–1–2) | Dorrance Field (580) Chapel Hill, NC |
| March 20, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 15 | at Syracuse | T 0–0 $^{2OT}$ | 5–3–3 (5–1–3) | SU Soccer Stadium (0) Syracuse, NY |
| March 27, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 16 | at Notre Dame | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 6–3–3 (6–1–3) | Alumni Stadium (143) Notre Dame, IN |
| April 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 15 | Virginia Tech | L 0–1 | 6–4–3 (6–2–3) | Dorrance Field (423) Chapel Hill, NC |
| April 11, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 18 | at Duke Rivalry | W 1–0 | 7–4–3 (7–2–3) | Koskinen Stadium (0) Durham, NC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| May 2, 2021 5:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream | No. 16 | No. 14 Charlotte Second Round | T 1–1 (4–1 PKs) $^{2OT}$ | 7–4–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park (175) Cary, NC |
| May 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream | No. 16 | (4) No. 5 Stanford Third Round | W 1–0 | 8–4–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park (185) Cary, NC |
| May 10, 2021 5:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream | No. 16 | (5) No. 4 Wake Forest Quarterfinals | W 2–1 | 9–4–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park (189) Cary, NC |
| May 14, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 16 | No. 10 Marshall Semifinals | L 0–1 | 9–5–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Alec Smir | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | October 5, 2020 |
| Fillipo Zattarin | Co-ACC Defensive Player of the Week | October 12, 2020 |
| Giovanni Montesdeoca | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | March 9, 2021 |
| Giovanni Montesdeoca | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | March 15, 2021 |
| Alec Smir | All ACC Second-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Giovanni Montesdeoca | All ACC Second-Team | April 14, 2021 |

## 2021 MLS Super Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Matt Constant | Sporting Kansas City | 2 | 50 | DF |
| Mark Salas | FC Dallas | 3 | 76 | DF |
| Giovanni Montesdeoca | FC Dallas | 3 | 79 | FW |
Source:

## Rankings
### Fall 2020

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Final |
| United Soccer | | | | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |

### Spring 2021

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Final |
| United Soccer | None Released | None Released | None Released | None Released | | RV | 15 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 16 | None Released | None Released | 4 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | | | | | RV | | | | 16 | 8 | 4 |